The powers that be in Slovakia have managed to strike a deal to stabilise the political situation in the country by allowing the ousted government to remain in place until the early elections in March 2012.
Yesterday the four coalition parties united to present a proposal to President Ivan Gasparovic that will see a small amendment to the Constitution, thereby allowing PM Radicova and her merry men to remain at the helm of the country.
The President accepted the proposal and so PM Radicova will be heading also to the EU summit in Brussels on Sunday to represent her country, even though her government failed a no confidence vote just 10 days ago.
President Gasparovic is obliged to recall a government that failed a confidence vote, but thanks to the plugging of a loophole in the Constitution, to be passed today, he will be able to entrust the same government to take charge of the country until the March elections.
The latest development was made possible also thanks to the shunned SaS party, which has managed to negotiate some conditions in exchange for its support for the state budget and for the reformed government. The SaS demands include abolishing MP immunity for minor offences, cancelling TV and radio licence fees, and the cancellation of health insurance premiums for people without incomes, such as single mothers and students.
The solution was accepted also by Robert Fico’s Smer-SD party, but not by the nationalist SNS party, while nobody from either party attended last night’s meeting with the President. Robert Fico said his party was supporting the move for the sake of the country and the President as a solution to the current crisis.
Although head of the SaS party Richard Sulik has been insisting all week that he and his party would not support any new government, they had a sudden change of mind, much to the relief and appreciation of the other three coalition parties. Sulik said they had realised that responsibility to the country came before their party interests. It seems the new kid in town is starting to learn how politics works.
The latest gesture should also help patch up relations a bit and improve the coalition potential of the SaS after the March elections. The party will also see its caucus head Jozef Kollar occupy the seat of deputy chair in parliament as part of the deal.
All the coalition partners are confident that the agreement is the best one for the stability of Slovakia, so now everyone can get down to the business of campaigning for the elections in March 2012.