- Political scientist Miroslav Řádek assumes that the government will gain parliamentary confidence on Thursday.
- The government majority postponed the vote of confidence because of the uncertainty of the result in the parliament.
- The decision of the Constitutional Court forced the government to act quickly, before the start of the campaign.
Nothing yet indicates that the Slovak government should not gain confidence in the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Thursday. Miroslav Řádek, a political scientist from the Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín in Trenčín, thinks so. He stated this for TASR. According to him, the government majority waited because they were not sure about the vote.
“At the same time, I also understand that when the Constitutional Court has already issued such a clear decision that the government must vote on its confidence without delay, it wants to do it now. Because if she left it until the fall, it could mean that the vote might not go in her favor again. Because the election campaign will be in full swing,” the political scientist pointed out. Even considering the statements of the smaller coalition partners, he does not currently see major problems in the coalition. However, such a situation may not repeat itself.
Rádek also added that the constitutional law on budgetary responsibility, also known as the debt brake, does not establish sanctions for the government for failing to fulfill the obligation to ask for confidence in the parliament. According to him, even ignoring the decision of the Constitutional Court would not have consequences for the government.
Members of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic for the opposition KDH will vote against expressing confidence in the government. Ján Horecký (KDH) told journalists this on Thursday. According to him, the government wants to stay in power at all costs and can only agree on its interests. He blames Prime Minister Robert Fic (Smer-SD) for his contempt for constitutional principles, although in the past he wanted to become a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic. According to Horecký, the government is a brake on the country’s economy and development.
“We expect the result that this government wants to keep the coalition together and itself in power at any cost. We see it in the way they filled the posts of ministers, what they can and cannot agree on. They can only agree on their particular interests and not the needs of the citizens of the Slovak Republic. Therefore, the KDH will fundamentally oppose the vote of confidence in the government of the Slovak Republic,” declared Horecký.
He recalled that when Fico wanted to become a constitutional judge in 2019, he declared that as a politician and prime minister he promoted and wanted to promote the constitutional principles of the Slovak Republic. Ptherefore, the MP blames the Prime Minister for not proceeding with the elementary obligation arising from the constitutional law to ask for confidence in the government due to exceeding the debt brake, only after the Constitutional Court’s decision came.
According to Horecký, Fico does not behave like someone who could be a constitutional judge, nor the prime minister of the Slovak Republic. “In his opening speech, he was only able to do what he always does – to rant about the previous governments,” he said, adding that this government is putting Slovakia in debt much faster than previous governments. According to Horecký, in his speech in the plenary, the prime minister connected with the former governments and the opposition and did not actually ask for trust. “He has said nothing to seek to earn this trust,” he said.
Horecký reminded that the public debt in Slovakia today is at the level of 61 percent of the gross domestic product, which amounts to 84 billion euros. “By the end of the election period, the debt of the Slovak Republic will increase by 20 billion euros. On consolidation, this government collected almost 12 billion euros from citizens, employers and entrepreneurs. stated. “This government is an obstacle to the economy and development of the Slovak Republic, so we will vote against the vote of confidence in the government,” he concluded.
