BRATISLAVA, October 25, (WEBNOVINY) — On Tuesday afternoon, Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic dismissed Prime Minister Iveta Radicova (SDKU-DS) from her office and at the same time authorized her to remain in office in a caretaker role until a new government is appointed after early elections in March 2012. His actions were based on an amendment to the Constitution of the Slovak Republic which the Slovak Parliament adopted last Friday. The President signed the amendment on Monday, October 24.
The mandate of this Cabinet will be limited. It will be only allowed to execute its constitutional powers independently. The implementation of powers enacted in other laws will require prior approval by the president on a case-by-case basis. The interim Cabinet will not pass decisions on substantial economic and social measures, internal and foreign policy and amnesties regarding transgressions. It will not be authorized to appoint and dismiss members of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic and negotiate international treaties. However, the Cabinet will be allowed to continue in preparations and approval of the state budget, make decisions on draft bills and issue regulations. The Cabinet will have the competence to declare war, order mobilization, and announce a state of emergency.
After an extensive political agreement, as many as 139 lawmakers voted in favor of the draft amendment in the 150-member parliament. Thus, the constitutional crisis which emerged after the Cabinet lost a confidence vote in parliament on October 11 was resolved. The problem was that the Constitution ordered the president to dismiss the Cabinet, yet it did not specify what actions should follow, giving state bodies, only allowed to act within the scope of valid laws, very little options.
Prime Minister and SDKU-DS Deputy Chairwoman Iveta Radicova will not run in early general elections on March 10 of next year. She officially announced her decision at a news conference after the Tuesday meeting of the SDKU-DS presidium. She also told the media she is not planning establishing a new political party and considers it to be too early to discuss the issue of her running in 2014 presidential election.
The Cabinet Office also informed that on Wednesday, October 26, the regular Cabinet session would not take place due to Prime Minister Radicova’s full schedule. She will first be in parliament in Bratislava and later attend the EU Summit in Brussels in the afternoon.
SITA