BRATISLAVA, October 1, (WEBNOVINY)- KDH Deputy Chairman Pavol Abrhan presented two possible scenarios on Slovak Radio on Saturday in the event that the Slovak parliament fails to vote to increase the guarantees euro-zone members pay into the European Financial Stability Facility at the first attempt. “The vote can be repeated again, with talks with the opposition held ahead of it. The second alternative can be that the Cabinet will decide that the second ballot might be, let’s say, merged with a confidence vote in the Cabinet” the KDH senior official said on the Saturday Dialogues program. He underscored that the ruling coalition is doing its best to manage the situation itself as it is the government’s commitment. This is why the ruling coalition does not seek support among opposition parties, he explained.
In the first vote the ruling coalition cannot count with votes of SMER-SD deputies. “If you do not negotiate with us before the vote it would be a signal that you do not need our votes as you have agreed,” SMER-SD Deputy Chairman Marek Madaric told Abrhan. According to him there exist several possibilities how the coalition and opposition can strike an accord. Despite the fact that the strongest opposition party backs the extension of the bailout fund capacity the coalition cannot count with its votes without having previous talks with the party of Robert Fico, Madaric told his partner. “SMER is waiting,” he added.
Abrhan however countered that negotiations with the opposition are currently impossible since it would endanger the ongoing talks with the coalition SaS. “If we start to talk with the opposition, negotiations with the SaS cannot be successful, he said. The most probable scenario after launching talks with opposition parties is that the SaS would tell its partners to approve the extension of the rescue fund with votes from the opposition, thinks Abrhan. He also warned that if the coalition does not manage the bailout fund issue its ruling following the failure to approve the extension of the bailout fund would be problematic.
SITA