Finance Minister Matovich ready to resign, but with conditions

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This is a developing story. The Slovak Spectator will be updated as the situation develops.

The strongest ruling party, Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), said party leader and finance minister Igor Matovich was prepared to step down as minister.

The announcement will be made at the last minute. Wednesday is the day his one of four coalition parties, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), should join. leave the governmentLed by Prime Minister Eduardo Heger of the Oyano Party as Matovic hesitates to step down as chairman of the Council of Ministers Heger’s rejection get him fired.

If SaS leaves, Heger will be at the helm of a minority government.

SaS conditioned Matovic to remain in Hegel’s cabinet by removing him from government at the beginning of summer His constant attacks on SaS and financial mishandling.

After two months of rejecting the SaS’s demands, Matovič and his party changed their minds. However, they have some conditions.

Matovich wants Economics Minister and SaS Chairman Richard Slick, whom the Finance Minister has often attacked online and at press conferences, to step down.

The prime minister also said Matovič was prepared to resign from the finance ministry only after SaS endorsed OĽaNO’s concept of 10 government measures said to help people ahead of today’s government meeting. .

These measures include raising child benefits, increasing taxes on Russia’s oil and gas pipelines, freezing electricity bills for all households, and further financial assistance to households on gas and heating costs. According to the proposal, SaS would also have to vote on her 2023 state budget, the Budget Responsibility Act, and the Constitution on Stabilizing the National Pension System.

Matovich will not be attending today’s government meeting as he is on vacation in Spain. Instead, he shares a few posts on his Facebook.

“We believe SaS is close to that. [the offer] Responsibly,” the finance minister wrote, urging the SaS to put Slovakia first.

SaS Ministers, including Economy Minister Richard Slick and Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Kolcockleft the government meeting for an hour to discuss the proposal.

“Today, the day after the deadline, [August 30]he [Matovič] To come up with a demand is to deliberately prolong the crisis of the Union and play with the country,” Slick said.

The economy minister submitted his resignation to the presidential palace in the morning.

Sulík added that his party will discuss the 10 proposals only after the finance minister resigns.

Today, President Zuzana Captova invited Prime Minister Hager and Speaker of Parliament Boris Kolar (Sume Rodina) to the Presidential Palace to discuss the coalition crisis. A meeting of the three constitutional dignitaries is due today at 13:30.