• Richard Sulík has already submitted his resignation. • OĽaNO made an offer to the SaS party – Igor Matovič will go to parliament together with Richard Sulík if SaS approves government measures to combat the energy crisis. • SaS gave OĽaNO a counter-offer – If Igor Matovič resigns from the post of finance minister by Monday, SaS will negotiate with OĽaNO about demands.• These are the ten demands of OĽaNO that SaS must fulfill in order for Igor Matovič to go to parliament.
16:22 – The President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová asked Prime Minister Eduard Heger to submit nominees for vacant ministerial seats to her in a timely manner. He also demands that he present as soon as possible the way in which his eventual minority government will gain support for the laws. He also wants the period of mutual ultimatums to end on Monday. She emphasized the need for a functional government, especially in times of crisis.
The head of state underlined that as president she has the duty to ensure the proper functioning of constitutional bodies. She noted that the coalition council is not like that, therefore she did not enter into the negotiations of its leaders. “However, the government is a constitutional body and should be functional under all circumstances. Especially if we are in a period of crisis. The situation we are in requires a solid and functional government,” she emphasized. She pointed to the steps taken by neighboring countries to alleviate the energy crisis. Therefore, according to her, the common goal must be a functional democratic government that will lead Slovakia through a challenging period. She noted that without majority support in parliament, the cabinet would be dysfunctional. At the same time, he asks the representatives of the governing parties how they want to solve serious crises, when they could not solve the one within the coalition for two months. Source: TASR/Jaroslav Novák 15:55 – Minister of the Environment Ján Budaj will not work in a government in which power rests with fascists.
“We will see if the triple coalition will remain at all. As long as the power rests with the fascists, I will not work in such a government,” Budaj told journalists.
Budaj thinks that the coalition partners got out of the deadlock when they put negotiable conditions on the table. According to him, good cooperation does not mean the dictates of one party. He wishes to have a substantive discussion about which of the measures are acceptable. He told SaS leader Richard Sulík and OĽaNO leader Igor Matovič to realize that Slovakia comes first. “Show Slovakia that you will bear responsibility for the future,” he said.
The demands of OĽaNO do not seem unacceptable to him, they cannot be perceived as a dictate, they must be discussed. 15:22 – President Zuzana Čaputová will hold a press conference at 16:00. 2:42 p.m. – Chair of Za ljudí Veronika Remišová thinks that there is room for a compromise between the conditions presented by the parties OĽaNO and SaS. Milan Krajniak has a similar opinion, according to which the coalition partners must agree on the conditions in the case of staying. 14:30 – The meeting of the three highest constitutional officials has ended, Eduard Heger and Boris Kollár have left the presidential palace. Zuzana Čaputová will make a short statement. 14:00 – President Zuzana Čaputová received Eduard Heger and Boris Kollár. After the joint conversation, the head of state will make a press statement. Journalists will probably not have room for questions. Source: TASR/Jaroslav Novák 13:35 – Chairman of Progressive Slovakia Michal Šimečka claims that it is in the interest of Slovakia and its citizens that the government coalition and especially the OĽaNO movement end this agony as quickly as possible.
“People are afraid that they will have nothing to eat and nothing to heat for, a war is raging on our border and the government is in complete paralysis. Instead of solutions for people, he puts forward ultimatums, argues and there is no end to it. Every day that we are forced to watch this moves Slovakia deeper into the crisis. And into the arms of Robert Fico and the fascists,” commented Šimečka on the social network. (TASR) 12:55 – MP Tomáš Valášek from Progressive Slovakia criticizes the coalition partners for the way in which communication exchanges take place during the government crisis. “This offer of OĽaNO to SaS is a prank, not a serious attempt to solve the crisis. One side and the other are playing while it gets dark around us,” says Valášek. He is angry that the coalition partners do not focus on topics that, according to him, are the real problem of the country. The Vice President of Progressive Slovakia, Michal Truban, called on Igor Matovič to submit his resignation today. “Then lock yourself in Bôrik with only water and dry bread and make an agreement by Monday how you are finally going to deal with people’s problems, not just your relationships,” he told the coalition. 12:27 – The three highest constitutional officials will meet in the presidential palace on Wednesday afternoon. They will discuss the current situation in the government coalition, informed the president’s spokesperson Martin Strižinec.
“In connection with the government crisis, President Zuzana Čaputová invited Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Chairman of the National People’s Congress Boris Kollár to the presidential palace,” said the spokesperson. Later, he also announced the president’s statement. The meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. 12:20 – SaS chairman and outgoing economy minister Richard Sulík said that if the party remained in the coalition, Ján Oravec would take over the department. 12:03 – Richard Sulík is ready to negotiate ten demands with OĽaNO, but only if Igor Matovič resigns from the government by Monday. 12:01 – Richard Sulík criticized Igor Matovič for submitting his demands only on the day the ultimatum expired. “Igor Matovič had the whole summer, seven weeks. Igor Matovič wasted this time,” said Sulík. According to him, SaS considers this to be a deliberate prolongation of the coalition crisis and playing with the country. He pointed to the current energy crisis. He underlined the need to decide how the government will continue to function, and not to return to ground zero in negotiations. “I did not say that we agree with those points, we are ready to discuss them constructively. We will not have fun before our basic demand is met,” said the leader of the liberals, adding that they perceive OĽaNO’s demands as proposals for negotiation. At the same time, Sulík asked the other SaS ministers not to submit their resignations on Wednesday, but to wait until Monday. 12:00 – Richard Sulík announced that he had already submitted his resignation, took it to the office of the presidential palace. She does not yet know when President Zuzana Čaputová will accept her. 11:50 – Ondrej Dostál called the point about financial discipline in the OĽaNO conditions for SaS as “cute”. “In other words, MPs and ministers for OĽaNO, We are a family and For people can translate proposals even without financial support, only MPs and ministers for SaS cannot. Someone had to sit on this fact for at least two months. This cannot be done just like that somewhere on vacation from evening to morning,” stated the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice for SaS. 11:37 – Igor Matovič wrote two statuses, he did not show up at the government in person today. “Today it will be shown who cares about Slovakia and who cares about their ego,” says Matovič. In the next status, he describes OĽaNO’s demands on the SaS side. Several of them are crossing the red lines that the Freedom and Solidarity party defined when joining the coalition. 11:28 – Leader of the opposition Smer-SD Robert Fico called on President Zuzana Čaputová to immediately declare a referendum with both proposed questions. He stated this on Wednesday in connection with OĽaNO’s conditions for the departure of Finance Minister Igor Matovič from the government. According to Fico, only a democratic direct solution can lead to solving the unprecedented government crisis caused by political children. (TASR) 10:49 – The government postponed the start of the negotiations by approximately one hour, SaS should currently consult on the proposals of the OĽaNO movement. Minister of Justice Mária Kolíková told journalists. 10:45 – These are the ten demands of OĽaNO that SaS must fulfill in order for Igor Matovič to go to parliament. “Igor Matovič never held positions or ministerial chairs, he was always concerned with justice. About defeating the mafia that stole Slovakia and returning the country back to all people. That is why we are willing to back down in the name of this goal,” says the OĽaNO party. Igor Matovič is willing to resign only after the requirements are met, and the eleventh condition is the resignation of Richard Sulík from the post of Minister of Economy. Source: Refresher 10:29 – Minister of Defense Jaroslav Naď said that OĽaNO gave the SaS party a counter-proposal with ten points that they should fulfill in order for Igor Matovič to leave the coalition. The Freedom and Solidarity party would probably have to relent and allow the laws it has been blocking in parliament for a long time to pass. Among them is, for example, the debt brake. It is likely that OĽaNO will want to increase taxes on alcohol, gambling and tobacco. 10:22 – Igor Matovič did not come to the government meeting. Eduard Heger organized a press conference where he said that the SaS ultimatum was based on false arguments. Together with Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď, they criticized Richard Sulík’s party for not bringing a single coalition crisis proposal to the table, except for the dismissal of Igor Matovič. Prime Minister Eduard Heger said that Igor Matovič will go to parliament together with Richard Sulík if SaS approves government measures to combat the energy crisis. 10:09 – Veronika Remišová claims that SaS’s departure from the coalition will mean the fall of the government. She attributes the responsibility to Richard Sulík, who, according to her, will cause the third overthrow of the government by his departure and will join Smer, Hlas and the fascists. (Denník N) 9:55 – OĽaNO ministers were tight-lipped when they arrived at the government meeting, but announced that they would hold a press conference. The Minister of the Environment Ján Budaj did not want to specify who will perform at it. Ministers Vladimír Lengvarský and Roman Mikulec did not answer what will happen and whether they expect surprises. (Denník N) 9:32 – The chairwoman of the Za ľudí party, Veronika Remišová, published a short status on Facebook. He warns against the potential success of opposition parties in early elections. “It is the dog’s duty of the coalition to end the meaningless arguments and move on. Dangerous extremists + Pellegrini + Fico are waiting for the road to power,” the head of the coalition party wrote. After SaS leaves the opposition, Veronika Remišová’s party would have only three parliamentary seats. 9:31 a.m. – Refresher spoke with Minister of Justice Mária Kolíková on the eve of the expiration of the ultimatum and departure from the coalition. If Igor Matovič resigned after the departure of all SaS ministers and thus maintained the coalition of four, Minister Mária Kolíková would not consider it a failure, but a success for the country. “I don’t see it on the party line, I see it as a potential success for the country. It is not good for Slovakia that Igor Matovič is a member of the government. I am convinced of that,” she said regarding Matovič’s possible resignation in the first half of September. The head of the Ministry of Justice claims that she does not yet know of anyone who would replace her in the ministerial post. But he thinks it will be a tough task for anyone who hasn’t run the Justice Department before. Especially for the ongoing reforms, which still have many opponents in the ranks of the judiciary. Source: Refresher/Paulína Ščepková 9:22 a.m. – Eduard Heger planned a press conference the other day, but it will not be about the coalition crisis. At 3:00 p.m., the prime minister will present the OĽaNO candidate for president of the Nitra self-governing region. Igor Matovič is on a planned summer vacation in Spain, from where he published photos and commented on the government crisis during the last week. 9:13 a.m. – Igor Matovič could use tactics when submitting the resignations of the Freedom and Solidarity ministers. This is a potential possibility that is being talked about more and more loudly in the coalition, Denník N and television Markíza inform, based on interviews with some of its members. If Finance Minister Igor Matovič resigned after Richard Sulík, Mária Kolíková, Branislav Gröhling and Ivan Korčok, he could cut them off from governing, but the Freedom and Solidarity party could remain in the coalition of four, because its condition for Matovič’s departure would be met. 9:10 a.m. – The government will meet from 10:00 a.m. There are nine items on the agenda, they will mainly discuss materials from the workshop of the Ministry of Economy related to gas and electricity. Richard Sulík already announced last week that after the government’s negotiations, he would go and take his resignation to the presidential palace. Other SaS ministers should do the same, but it is not expected that the president would accept the resignations today. Report an error. 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