On Tuesday, the new government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger won the confidence vote of members of the Slovak parliament. While 89 deputies voted in favor of his program statement, 55 were against it.
Almost all the ministers of the previous government who took office after the February 2020 elections remained in place, however, former Prime Minister Igor Matovič is now minister of finance, replacing his colleague from the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), Heger. Slovakia also has a new minister of health.
Matovič resigned as prime minister at the end of March to resolve the government crisis, during which two smaller government parties demanded his resignation. Critics blamed Matovič for his confrontational style. According to the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) coalition party, the former prime minister was not able to lead the country in any way. The head of OĽANO, Matovič gradually became one of the least popular Slovak politicians, and the preferences of his movement have dropped significantly since the elections. The current coalition was formed last March at a time of the Covid-19 outbreak, which affected the work of Matovič’s cabinet.
“We have an approved government program statement, and we also have an approved recovery plan, which is a roadmap for making Slovakia a successful, modern, innovative, and healthy country, which is what Slovakia is meant to be and what has been neglected for years,” said Heger after the confidence vote.
The current government has taken only minor changes to the previous program statement. According to Heger, the government will focus, for example, on the fight against corruption, responsible state management, family support, and the reconstruction of the country after the Covid-19 epidemic.
Title image: Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger smiles towards Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz who speaks during a news conference about the outcome of their business meeting in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
