The four parties that so vehemently celebrated the election results, even though they only just got a majority in parliament, are now dealing with the reality and trying to reach agreements on various issues that could pose problems.
They now have to come up with a format of government that will work and which will not expose too many cracks, especially because outgoing PM Fico and his former partner Jan Slota will be wedging anything they can into the cracks in an attempt to rupture the whole cabinet.
The leaders of the ‘four-leaf clover’ parties, as they are being referred to, started their discussions today at 2pm at the SDKU headquarters in Bratislava. Yesterday they were locked behind closed doors at their respective headquarters, where they forged their tactics and demands for today’s meeting.
Agreement has been stifled slightly be the recent comment of SaS leader, Richard Sulik, who said the Most-Hid party of Bela Bugar should get just 2 seats in parliament, and not 3, as was recently proposed. Bugar reacted by saying his party was willing to ‘depart’ from the coalition, if necessary.
In any case, by tomorrow when they are to meet with President Gasparovic, they should already be presenting the specific nominations for individual ministerial posts, and their general manifesto. It is then up to the President to decide exactly when he will endorse their plans so they can form the new Slovak government, however cracked it may be.