Slovak MPs on Thursday (December 15th) approved the no-confidence motion against the centrist minority government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger in a vote initiated by his former liberal ally. In total, 78 MPs out of 150 voted in favor of this motion, which does not necessarily imply the automatic need to hold early elections.
“The government of Eduard Heger has lost confidence”welcomed to the press, after the vote, Richard Sulik, the leader of the liberal party SaS who had left the coalition three months ago. “We will support the reconstruction of the government, and do not want early elections”he assured while indicating that his party was particularly opposed to the presence in the outgoing cabinet of the Minister of Finance, Igor Matovic, himself a former Prime Minister.
Earlier Thursday, Mr Matovic had offered his resignation to avoid the no-confidence vote but the Liberals rejected the offer, just an hour before the vote. “We’ve had enough of the chaos” SaS said in a statement at the time.
Igor Matovic had been forced to resign in April 2021 as prime minister amid a scandal over his hasty purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine, which did not receive the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). for use in the European Union.
Under the constitution, Slovakia can now continue to be led by a resigning government until a new group of ministers is appointed by the president. Liberal President Zuzana Caputova can install an interim government or reappoint Eduard Heger as prime minister.