Peter Pellegrini’s government is facing a serious crisis after it turned out that the former Slovak Minister of Interior, Robert Kaliňák could be involved in the kidnapping of Vietnamese businessman Trin Xuan Thanh.
Aktuality.sk reminds us that Kiska is staying in office until June 2019. In the case of early elections, the head of state wouldn’t be able to continue his career as leader of a party. In May, the president stated that he won’t leave politics after his mandate ends. Kiska’s exact plans are unclear, according to analysts the politician could form a new party, alternatively unite existing, smaller liberal-right parties such as Progresivne Slovensko and Spolu.
An early election negates the possibility of the president’s direct involvement in any kind of campaign. Roman Krpelan, the spokesperson of the presidential office, stated that Kiska’s plans are unchanged and the politician will announce his long-term plans to the public in November.
According to media sources, Kiska is considering several options. The president could in theory openly support a political party but cannot get personally involved in the election campaign. According to political analyst Tomáš Koziak, the case of presidential resignation is very unlikely as well as founding a party without his direct involvement in the early stages. In any case, Kiska’s political rivals on the right are content with the current situation.
