Global Courant 2023-05-15 18:13:12
Bratislava has been without a proper government since Prime Minister Eduard Heger tabled a vote of no confidence.
Slovakia has vowed a government of technocrats to lead the country to snap elections in September amid a spiraling political crisis.
Ludovit Odor, an economist and former central bank deputy governor, will lead the 15-member cabinet as the country’s interim prime minister.
“We will not perform miracles, but you can expect us to ensure the proper functioning of the state,” Odor said Monday.
Career diplomat Miroslav Wlachovsky will take over as foreign minister, with Martin Sklenar, a former senior defense minister, taking the leading role as defense minister.
No member of the installed cabinet will participate in the upcoming elections.
Slovak Prime Minister Ludovit Odor and other newly appointed members of the government at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia (Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters)
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova initially asked Prime Minister Eduard Heger to lead the caretaker government until the early elections, but after four members gradually left their posts, Heger tendered his resignation.
Caputova said she expected the cabinet to help people struggling with inflation, prepare a budget for 2024 and take steps to ensure fiscal sustainability.
“We are facing an epidemic of populism, lies that become the truth for some people after being repeated hundreds of times,” Caputova told the new cabinet at the nomination ceremony.
“I expect you to be part of a counterbalance to that phenomenon.”
The president also expected the new cabinet to continue unwavering support for Ukraine. Under Heger, Slovakia has provided the Kiev armed forces with 13 MiG-29 fighter jets and S-300 air defense systems.
Former Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger (File: Ints Kalnins/Reuters)
Voice of distrust
Bratislava has been without a proper government since December 15, when the coalition government led by Heger lost a vote of no confidence called for by the opposition after months of political trouble marred by high energy costs.
But the country’s foreign policy positions could be challenged if the opposition government led by former populist prime minister Robert Fico wins.
Fico’s Smer party, currently leading in opinion polls, has taken an increasingly anti-liberal and anti-Western stance, contradicting Caputova’s position.
The Smer party leader has also spoken out against arms shipments to Ukraine, calling Caputova a puppet of the West.
