BRATISLAVA, May 7, (WEBNOVINY) – Deputy leader of the opposition SMER-SD party Peter Kazimir would like to join the vote on the European permanent bailout fund with a no-confidence vote on the government. Kazimir announced this on air of the public-service Slovak Radio (SRo), in a program titled Saturday Dialogues. He went on to say that the SMER-SD party would certainly not support Prime Minister Iveta Radicova at the moment were such vote held. “Now, at this moment, we would definitely not vote for her,” he said.
If the two votes were connected, the liberal member of the governing coalition SaS would not support the prime minister, either. Head of SaS deputy caucus Jozef Kollar stated that the party will keep its promise not to support Slovakia’s participation in the permanent bailout fund. “Yes, even if the prime minister threatened to connect the vote with a no-confidence vote on the government, the SaS would keep its promise,” Kollar declared, adding that he believes the prime minister will not opt for such scenario. SaS does not support the idea of a permanent bailout fund, as it should involve direct financial participation, not just guarantees, and the new mechanism is not to enable countries’ orderly bankruptcy. According to Kollar, this will only delay the situation. He went on to say there have already been doubtful voices heard in the EU whether the mechanism would even be established.
With regard to the planned austerity measures, as presented by Finance Minister Ivan Miklos, the SaS will not support further tax hikes. Kollar restated that the state has to start cutting its own spending. He added that coalition partners knew about SaS plans not to support further tax hikes, and the party held a press conference last week to avoid misunderstandings. Kazimir remarked that the SaS has suddenly remembered its election promises. He did not forget to mention that based on results of the latest survey of political preferences, SaS has won thus far the lowest support since entering the government.
SITA