BRATISLAVA, April 3, (WEBNOVINY) — Members of the SMER-SD leadership have endorsed the nomination of the president of the Federation of Employers’ Associations (AZZZ) Tomas Malatinsky to the post of economy minister in the second cabinet of Robert Fico. SITA learned that the leadership did not actually convene but its members agreed with Malatinsky’s nomination in a phone conference call. SMER-SD was seeking a new economy minister in a dialogue with employers associations and the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry. After Malatinsky got the thumbs up from SMER leadership, nominations for the new Cabinet that President Ivan Gasparovic will appoint on Wednesday are already complete. Based on its landslide victory in the March 10 parliamentary elections, SMER-SD will have a comfortable majority of 83 votes in the 150-seat parliament and will form the new Cabinet alone.
“I have accepted the candidacy,” said Malatinsky who is already forming his team. “As the economy minister I want to push through requirements of employers that will be identical with the program statement of the government,” said Malatinsky.
The new 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 serve in that post once it is created.
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 original candidate for Economy Minister, Jan Valko, is the preferred candidate of Robert Fico for director of the intelligence service SIS.
SITA