BRATISLAVA, November 15, (WEBNOVINY) — Former partners in Slovakia’s ruling coalition, SDKU-DS, SaS, KDH and MOST-HID, are to meet on Wednesday to discuss and find accord on the support for the draft 2012 state budget. The SaS party announced on Tuesday it is prepared to support proposals that will lead to achieving the originally planned general government budget deficit of 3.8 percent of GDP. In order to achieve better financial results of the general government, the SaS will give up canceling the duty to pay health insurance contributions by voluntarily unemployed people, which the party demanded after the collapse of Iveta Radicova’s Cabinet in exchange for support of the budget draft. This would mean reducing the expected budget gap by EUR 70 million. According to SaS leader Richard Sulik, the party is willing to support the draft to reduce or cancel the state bonus provided on construction saving contracts, for which it can guarantee eighteen votes in the parliament.
Finance Minister and SDKU-DS deputy leader Ivan Miklos has welcomed the SaS position, too, which he considers to be a change of heart. “Until now, SaS has been coming up with contradictory proposals. Jozef Mihal came with increasing the maternity benefits, not SDKU. Canceling the duty to pay insurance contributions for the voluntarily unemployed is a proposal of the SaS. It was a nonsense proposal of the SaS party that would cost us EUR 70 million,” Miklos added.
According to the finance minister, ambitions within the recovery of public funds may not be fulfilled, as there will be early parliamentary elections in Slovakia. “In a confidence vote, SaS deputies, who together with [opposition] SMER-SD voted to bring down the government and thus caused early elections,” Miklos concluded.
SITA