Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger resigns

May 7. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The interim prime minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, announced his resignation this Sunday after communicating his decision on Saturday afternoon to the president, Zuzana Caputová.

“After the departure on Friday of a second minister in a matter of days, I have decided not to wait any longer and yesterday I presented the president with other alternatives that I consider less risky and more stable than the appointment of an official government,” Heger explained.

Caputová herself has summoned Heger to the Presidential Palace this Sunday at 3:00 p.m., according to the Slovak press, which recalls that the ministers Samuel Vlcan and Rastislav Kácer have recently left the Executive.

Faced with the political reality and thinking of the good of the citizenry, Heger has decided that “a Slovakia traumatized by conflicts does not deserve the political crisis to continue for even one more day.”

“Therefore, I have decided to ask to be relieved of my position and to leave room for the president to try to lead Slovakia to elections in a stable and calm way,” he added.

Heger has assured that he will do everything possible so that the transfer of powers is as smooth as possible. “After meeting this afternoon with the president, we will coordinate for the next steps for the transfer of the government and to communicate it to the population as soon as possible so that there is no confusion,” she stressed.

Heger has also denied that he is “covering up” the scandal that has caused the resignation of Minister Vlcan due to millionaire subsidies and has ensured that the decision to resign was made two weeks ago.

The president of Parliament, Boris Kollár, of the Somos Familia party, has declared on the RTVS network that the resignation was foreseeable. “This chaos did not start yesterday, but in December, when Parliament declared its lack of confidence in this government. In this situation, the options of the presidency are clear,” he explained, while advocating for the formation of an “official” government with the support of political parties.

The president of the Slovak Directorate-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party, Robert Fico, agreed with this option and recalled that the country is not a presidential republic. “It is not possible for the president to name a government without consulting Parliament and thus control the Executive for five months, until early elections,” argued the former prime minister.

The party with the most parliamentary support, the conservative Party of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OL’aNO), warned on Saturday that if a government is formed, the president must have its political formation. “If she wants to have our support, to have a responsible approach, she must first negotiate with our movement. If not, she will not be able to count on our support,” said OL’aNO leader Igor Matovic.

The 150 seats in the Slovak Parliament are widely distributed among up to twelve political parties after the February 2020 elections and the one with the most representation is OL’aNO, with just 37 seats, so broad consensus will be necessary to achieve majorities. The next elections are scheduled for September 30, 2023.