BRATISLAVA, March 30, (WEBNOVINY) — The leadership of the election winner SMER-SD that is to form a new government for the next four-year election term has approved nominations for cabinet members and senior parliamentary officials. The leader of the party and designated Prime Minister Robert Fico told a news conference that he has submitted the approved candidates to President Ivan Gasparovic. The Cabinet will have three deputy prime ministers including designated Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, Finance Minister Peter Kazimir and Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak. The new cabinet will have to do without a deputy prime minister for human rights and national minorities, as in a revamped competence law SMER will scrap this post and instead create a post of deputy prime minister for large investment projects. Ex-transport minister in Robert Fico’s first cabinet Lubomir Vazny is to be appointed to the post.
The post of defense minister will go to Martin Glvac, who is the head of the party’s Bratislava organization. The head of the Slovak Bar Chamber Tomas Borec is to stand at the helm of the Justice Ministry. SMER manager general Jan Richter is to be the new minister of labor, social affairs and family. Dusan Caplovic will be education minister and Zuzana Zvolenska who led the state-run health insurance company VsZP and sat on the board of the private insurer Dovera will take over the health department. Marek Madaric will lead the Culture Ministry, the new agriculture minister will be Lubomir Jahnatek and the environment department will be led by Peter Ziga.
The SMER-SD leadership has not decided on the new economy minister. Though Fico confirmed that Jan Valko, the ex-head of the national nuclear decommissioning company JAVYS remains the No. 2 candidate for the post. However the future prime minister is considering offering another important position to Valko. SMER is searching for a candidate of similar qualities as Valko in cooperation with employers association an the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry who could lead the economy department if Fico agrees with Valko on the aforementioned as yet publicly unspecified post.
The SMER-SD leadership decided that the speaker of parliament from 2006-2010 Pavol Paska will again lead the house. SMER-SD wants deputy speakers of parliament to held by Renata Zmajkovicova and Jana Lassakova. The leadership also recommended its parliamentary caucus to elect Jana Lassakova as its head. SMER-SD also approved heads of ten of nineteen parliamentary committees that it will control. The opposition will have two deputy speaker posts and lead nine parliamentary committees.
SMER was charged by the president to form a new government based on its landslide victory in March 10 early elections. The party of Robert Fico will have a convenient majority of 83 votes in the 150-seat parliament.
SITA