SaS vs. OĽaNO: The dispute continues! Is there a deal in the stars? Another harsh shootout, a letter to the prime minister and a political scientist’s criticism – Topky.sk

However, he also stood with the OĽaNO movement on the side of Matovič and refuses his departure from the government. The Liberals are insisting on their published demands and should deliver more to the Prime Minister at the beginning of this week. After Matovič refused to participate in the discussion session, he again used the space on social networks. Archived VIDEO The SaS party terminated the coalition agreement! They gave the Prime Minister an ultimatum, otherwise their ministers will resign. This is the most serious coalition crisis so far. There is no doubt that the public is fed up with the constant back-and-forth between the leaders of the Freedom and Solidarity party and the OĽaNO movement. There is a tense atmosphere between them practically from the beginning. The government has also experienced many crises, but this one is more serious than the others. Each of them is seeking their own truth and each of them has a problem with something specific. Photo gallery (10) Source: Topky/Vlado Anjel This time, however, the coalition crisis did not “go to waste” and did not even end with a voluntary change in the post. As OĽaNO already stated in the statement headed by Prime Minister Heger, they have backed down once, but they have no plans to do so now. The two demands are clear, the prime minister will receive more during the negotiations that should take place during the summer. A letter to the prime minister and a meeting with the president Yesterday, the Liberals sent a letter to the prime minister and the three coalition partners, in which they repeated their reservations, listed the violations of the coalition agreements and stated that they are ready to negotiate a draft of a new coalition agreement at any time, because their priority is to remain in the government. “We left the coalition because we don’t see any sense in continuing to function, on the contrary, we see many problems. At the same time, we say that we are ready to agree on a new coalition with a new contract,” Sulík stated over the weekend. Archived VIDEO OĽaNO after the extraordinary presidency: There is more that unites us with SaS than divides us. However, Prime Minister Heger did not like that Sulík made the letter available to the public. “I was surprised that the personal letter that I received today from Richard Sulík via the Signal chat application was immediately published by the chairman of SaS on the social network. I was even more surprised that Richard himself said that he would deliver the opinion to me personally,” he responded. however, the people of Sulík did not reveal anything new in the letter, only specific conditions were supposed to be non-public. Photo gallery (10) Source: FB / Eduard Heger – Prime Minister Heger, however, does not consider this to be a responsible and correct procedure. “Despite that, as Prime Minister and a person who cares on the prosperity and democratic development of Slovakia, I will continue efforts to resolve this coalition crisis and the continuation of the coalition of four,” he added. A minority government is looking more and more realistic We already wrote about scenarios in the previous article. However, after Sulík’s statements at the weekend, the possibility of a minority government still looks quite realistic if there is no agreement. The head of the parliament, Boris Kollár, has already started to increase the numbers of his club. SaS was the second strongest coalition party after the departure of the MPs from the Za lúky party. In theory, she could also claim the post of head of the parliament under the conditions. Since three members of parliament joined Kollár – Romana Tabak, Ján Krošlák (both exOĽaNO) and Jozef Šimko (exĽSNS), the We Are Family movement remains the second strongest club with 20 members of parliament. Photo gallery (10) Source: Topky/Vlado Anjel The head of the Liberals repeated over the weekend that the government will not be overthrown if they leave their posts as ministers. “The government will continue to function normally, maybe it will be a minority, maybe it will have a majority,” he added. According to him, how it turns out depends on the coalition partners. If they were to function in a three-coalition as a minority government, they would currently have 72 deputies. According to political scientist Juraj Marušiak, there is no danger that Matovič would decide to leave on his own for the good of the coalition. “It is clear that Matovič will not be willing to leave voluntarily, the scenario of a minority government would probably suit him,” he assessed last week for Topky, adding that a scenario of a minority government and a paralyzed parliament could occur. Was the ultimatum a good move? Sulík emphasized that he is ready to accept any alternative. In the event that he finishes as minister of the economy, he will return to parliament. At the same time, he denied that he is concerned with early elections and that as the leader he wants to lead the party to regular elections. He declared that even if the SaS was in the opposition, it is ready to continue to support the quality proposals of the coalition. Photo gallery (10) Source: Topky/Maarty But was leaving the coalition and the ultimatum a good step on the part of SaS? OĽaNO defended itself in one of the weekend statuses by saying that they are not the ones who give ultimatums. “If SaS wants to leave the government, it could have done it gallantly and before the holidays. But they understandably don’t want to leave the coalition, because SaS will not only lose ministers, but by leaving the coalition it should also lose all state secretaries, heads of various offices, nominees in companies with state influence,” said political scientist Radoslav Štefančík for Topky. According to him, after their departure, the remaining coalition should recall these people, as the SaS should perceive their stay in the opposition with all the consequences. “And then it will be appropriate to ask the question, why vote for SaS again and again, since its characteristic feature is breaking every government in which they are represented. Governance is not a walk in the park, but a constant struggle. And SaS is giving up this fight again, which its voters can add up again in the next elections,” he said. The liberals are willing to topple the next government in September. The mafia will do the impossible to “help” overthrow the anti-corruption government on September 1, he wrote. “Release Fico, Pellegrini et al. from NAKA’s grip it’s worth it. 26 billion euros from euro resources tempting to steal in the next 5 years are worth it… to go through their minds is also worth it,” wrote the OĽaNO leader and Minister of Finance. Photo gallery (10) On Saturday, he got even tougher and talked about the Goebbels lie and repeated that the liberals are willing to topple the next government in September. According to him, they repeat “like parrots” that the head of the finance department subverted public finances with an anti-inflation package. However, his rhetoric is also the same every time. “After my ten negotiations with SaS and subsequent four negotiations of the entire coalition on helping families, the three parties with SaS gave up,” he repeated. The air could be cut. According to Matovič, it was no longer fun to listen to the coalition parties. “We have informed SaS that, to paraphrase, sorry, but we cannot agree with your approach. We refuse to leave families with dependent children at the mercy of fate and inflation, and we have decided to present the Family Package to help families,” said Matovič, adding that they subsequently heard everything possible from the liberals and Sulík, including vulgar insults. Photo gallery (10) “The air could be cut,” he said, repeating the scenario we witnessed. In the end, the people of Sulík let the package go, saying that they would not support it, but they would not veto it. “This means that SaS’s claim that we enforced it against the will of SaS is a lie. If they wanted to block it, they wouldn’t give us permission and, above all, they would veto it,” wrote Matovič. Photo gallery (10) At the same time, according to him, the people of Sulík made a public promise that if the package were to be implemented with the help of opposition votes, it would not be a violation of the coalition agreement. It was supposed to be a concession. “This means that SaS’s claim that we violated the agreement by voting for the family package is also a lie. Apparently, they did not count on the fact that there would be someone in the opposition who was not interested in who is presenting it, but what is being presented,” defended the Minister of Finance. There is a higher game behind it… Matovič added that there is definitely something bigger behind it. “A higher game that none of us even know about. An agreement with someone who is extremely comfortable with the third term of the Sask government. Because to base the reasoning on the destruction of public finances by a family package and, moreover, with fascists, is just one god-awful Goebbelsian lie…,” he wrote. “And to ask for something that he was warned about in advance that he would run into, rather indicates that the plan was made a long time ago and on September 1 SaS will bring down the third government of which it is a part,” he added and also complained about the form, such as the media reported on his package. Photo gallery (10) Such communication is not worthy of a minister, but it is not a surprise According to a political scientist, such communication is not worthy of a minister of finance, but it is not a surprise either. “In this, he resembles Ľuboš Blaha from Smer or other politicians with down-to-earth and infantile communication. But Igor Matovič is a textbook example of a populist, so his down-to-earth statements are not surprising at all,” he said. Many are used to such a style at Matovič. “This is Igor Matovič’s natural reaction, which is not unusual for him. Instead of extinguishing the conflict, it adds fuel to the fire. This is how it worked until now and this is how it continues to work. Without the slightest interest in self-reflection,” stated Štefančík. Matovič confirms that he must leave the government The SaS party, in response to Matovič’s statements, stated that it considers his words about the fall of the government or early elections as confirmation that the demand for his resignation is justified. “Every proper government must have the confidence of the parliament, i.e. at least 76 deputies. We are ready to provide all 19 MPs when changing one post in the government,” said SaS chairman Richard Sulík. Photo gallery (10) Source: Topky/Maarty “If the parties OĽaNO, Sme vordina and Za lútky are not interested in further cooperation with SaS, the three-coalition in the parliament can once again rely on the support of the ĽSNS and the deputies who came to the parliament on the candidate of this party . On behalf of the SaS, we can declare the demand that the new coalition agreement must also result in the certainty that the government coalition does not bargain with extremists, nor does it flatter,” said the leader of the liberals. The departure of four ministers does not mean the fall of the government or early elections The SaS party reminds that the departure of its four ministers from the government will not mean the fall of the government, nor early elections, nor the end of the coalition. “We are still convinced that if the historically most untrustworthy politician Igor Matovič is not in the government, the political and social situation will calm down. We understand that it is not easy to face the truth and the easier way is to accuse the coalition partner of fabrications and repeatedly lie about him,” added Branislav Gröhling, vice-president of SaS and Minister of Education. We are not the ones who give ultimatums But that was not all. The OĽaNO party published another reaction on its Facebook profile on Sunday. “We are not the ones who make ultimate demands. It is not us who pretends that no one is communicating with him and at the same time walks away from the negotiating table. No interviews, suggestions or comments. And we are not the ones who repeat the same lies about voting with fascists and subverting public finances,” they repeated, adding that Sulík could have influenced many things differently. “Today, instead of negotiating with the other coalition parties, the SaS chairman is circling all the media like a comet. Unfortunately, he slanders, spreads falsehoods and attacks us,” he said, complaining again about the media. “From the beginning, the president of SaS has been beating his own government. It torpedoes decisions, solutions, and negotiations. He is the perfect opposition in his own coalition. He did it in the pandemic, the crisis and he is doing it now. And the only goal is to humiliate and eliminate Igor and OĽaNO, because we are his party’s biggest competition,” the movement said. Will an agreement still be possible? However, is an agreement still possible after all the statements and attacks, if none of the parties currently plans to back down? Whether this rhetoric will damage the negotiations remains to be seen in a few weeks. “Matovič damaged the public finances, among other things, by widespread testing or vaccination lottery. And perhaps one would find other decisions of his that were more emotional than rational. On the other hand, if SaS wanted to criticize OĽaNO, it should have exercised its right of veto first. If it were violated, criticism would be appropriate,” Štefančík assessed.