The new Slovak government of experts led by Ludovit Odor, who is not a party in the field of economics, lost confidence in parliament. Only 34 of the 136 MPs present in Bratislava voted in favor of the government program on Thursday. At least a simple majority of 76 of the 150 mandataries was required. However, it is unlikely that there will be another change of government.
As the first prime minister in the history of sovereign Slovakia since 1993, Odor had to pass a vote of confidence in parliament. It was clear that a majority of MPs would not trust him. In addition to the entire opposition, a large part of the previous government coalition had already announced in advance that they would vote against the government of civil servants. On Thursday, 43 MPs voted against the government and 54 abstained. Five of the MPs did not vote.
Transitional government wanted to ensure “stability”.
Still, the 46-year-old former deputy governor of the Slovak central bank tried to campaign for his government in parliament this week. “Our main ambition is to bring peace, stability, continuity and tolerance, and last but not least a cultivated socio-political discussion,” Odor said on Tuesday when presenting his government statement. The Prime Minister explained that there was neither the time nor the mandate to implement all the reforms, but there were many points to be pointed out and concrete steps to be taken for the successor.
The priorities of the government program, which was only 28 pages long, were to ensure the proper functioning of the state until new elections in September, to continue humanitarian, political and military aid to neighboring Ukraine, which was under attack by Russia , to restore public finances and to provide state aid to the weak populations caught up in the inflationary crisis.
Personal insults in parliament
The two-day debate on the government statement in the House of Representatives was at times more than lively, with personal insults instead of technical comments. The opposition and parts of the coalition criticized the government’s program as far too vague. Observers in the country also attribute this to the fact that the parliamentary parties are already fully engaged in the election campaign.
Former Prime Minister Igor Matovic, the leader of the strongest party in the previous coalition, Olano, strongly criticized passages about the currently “historically worst” state of the country’s public finances. “Huge disgrace and lies they are spreading here,” he said, dismissing allegations that his government mismanaged and caused a collapse in public finances in 2020-2022.
The government of experts just needs to give the previous coalition time to regain calm after its deep internal crisis and prepare for new elections in September, complained Robert Fico, chairman of the opposition Smer party, currently the most popular group in the country. country. Only Richard Sulik’s Liberal SaS wanted to support the Odor government.
Cabinet appointed during crisis
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova appointed the government of experts on May 15 after a protracted political crisis in the country. According to the Slovak constitution, the new cabinet had to submit its government statement to a vote of confidence in parliament within 30 days.
The president is now expected to entrust the expert government with the management of government affairs until new elections on September 30. So the Odor government will only act with limited powers and will not be able to make fundamental decisions on economics or foreign policy, similar to Eduard Heger’s conservative-populist minority government, which only lost a vote of no confidence in December.
Left-wing populists in poll ahead
According to current opinion polls, the parties in Slovakia’s previous right-wing coalition government are heading for a heavy defeat in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This raises fears of an imminent change of course in Slovakia’s foreign policy. The left-wing populist Smer, currently clearly leading in all polls, rejects further arms deliveries to Ukraine in the long term.
Source: Krone
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