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Slovakian government loses majority after ministers quit

DPA WORLD
Published September 06,2022
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All of the remaining ministers from Slovakia's liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party quit on Monday, leaving the government without a majority in parliament.

The foreign minister, education minister and justice minister all exited their posts. SaS party leader Richard Sulik had departed as economy minister and deputy prime minister at the end of August.

Conservative Prime Minister Eduard Heger's coalition has been plagued by infighting amid a darkening economic outlook for the Central European country.

The three remaining parties will continue on as a minority government, Heger said on Monday evening.

SaS have been demanding the resignation of the conservative populist Finance Minister Igor Matovič since July. Matovič is also the leader of the largest governing party, Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLANO), to which Heger also belongs.

Matovič pushed through a controversial inflation support programme for families in July, against the will of the SaS and with the help of a far-right party. That triggered calls by the centre-right SaS demanding Matovič's ouster.

The two parties also take opposing positions on the question of whether taxes should be raised to combat the crisis.

Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová has criticized the fact that the government has not presented its long-awaited package of measures to deal with energy price increases.

Instead, she said, the coalition has been focussed on internal disputes "that no one cares about anymore."