BRATISLAVA, October 19, (WEBNOVINY) — According to its chairman Richard Sulik, ex-ruling coalition SaS party would not support any new cabinet. “We were not the ones to bungle it. Our former partners started this game and I’m surprised they had no follow-up prepared. It’s a problem they have to resolve with [opposition SMER-SD leader] Robert Fico. They were able to agree on great things. If the president decides not to dismiss the current Cabinet, we will respect that,” Sulik told reporters on Wednesday. Fico presented a similar position on Tuesday, meaning that any new Cabinet to present its program document to parliament would not succeed.
Thus, according to Sulik, no new Cabinet would get SaS votes in a confidence vote. “We do not do business in these issues. First we were blackmailed, than they broke us up. As if that weren’t enough, they agreed with Fico upon essential issues. The European Financial Stability Facility could not have been the excuse for breaking up the coalition. […] We were kicked out of the coalition, they almost wiped the floor with us on Thursday. They can arrange with Fico what to do next,” underlined Sulik.
SaS chairman also said that he does not think President Gasparovic should dismiss Iveta Radicova’s Cabinet before Monday, because of the EU leaders’ summit, which is to take place this weekend in Brussels. “This will be an issue for discussion with the president. Someone has to go to Brussels. It should logically be the prime minister. In spite of everything, we do not need to complicate things even more and to further curb her mandate,” told Sulik the media.
When the Cabinet loses a confidence vote in Slovak Parliament — as happened a week ago — the president is obliged to dismiss that Cabinet. The constitution, however, does not specify which steps follow, leading to ambiguity about which Cabinet should rule the country until the early election is held in March 2012, in this case. Last Friday, the president mentioned naming a caretaker Cabinet as an alternative.
SITA
