The Slovak Government in crisis

In Slovakia the forced resignation of Economy Minister Pavol Rusko has pushed the government into crisis. The coalition leaders kicked Rusko's party out of government but kept a dissident faction of his party in power. The opposition and some independent MPs are calling for an early election.

Pavol Rusko was accused of issuing personal promissory notes worth 2.6 million euros. He said he paid his debt although he refused to say how this was possible given that his monthly salary as economy minister and deputy prime minister was around 2,500 euros. Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda asked Rusko to resign. He refused, and so the prime minister sacked him. This is a tough time for the ruling coalition as Bela Bugar, the leader of ethnic Hungarian party explains:

"We already had a minority in Parliament. Now we have four MPs less and must negotiate every single law with independent MPs. But we will do it."

Rusko's resignation created conflicts in his own party, the New Citizen's Alliance. He harshly criticized the three vice presidents of the party who formed a dissident group. Prime Minister Dzurinda took a surprising and controversial decision.

"We, the leaders of the three out of four coalition parties decided to cease cooperation with the fourth party, the New Citizen's Alliance. It is obvious that Pavol Rusko's behaviour led to such a decision. We will, however, cooperate with the group of dissidents in his party; therefore, the ministers of health and culture will keep their jobs in the government."

The opposition MP Zuzana Martinakova finds the situation unusual:

"Slovakia is the only democratic country in the world where some people form a mini party within a party and manage to keep their ministers in the government despite the fact that the mother party was kicked out of the government."

Martinakova knows how it is to be dissident in a party because she disagreed with premier Dzurinda and left his party two years ago. Now she demands early parliamentary elections. But Dzurinda has already decided to keep Rusko's former colleagues in the government and even nominated one of them, a former racing driver, as the new economy minister. Pavol Rusko meanwhile has taken the rest of his party to the opposition. The finance minister, Ivan Miklos, who currently serves as interim as economy minister, says he had a bit of shock when he realized what legacy Rusko left: scandals surrounding EU funds and special clauses to contracts with foreign investors in which Slovakia's government promised huge incentives.