Fico’s resignation fails to stem growing tide of protests in Slovakia

Fico’s resignation fails to stem growing tide of protests in Slovakia
Around 65,000 people in Bratislava alone on March 16. / Ľubomír Škriečka
By bne IntelliNews March 18, 2018

Demonstrations erupted again in Slovakia on March 16, attracting around 65,000 people in Bratislava alone. The protests were bigger than on the previous Friday, even though Robert Fico of Smer-SD, the dominant figure in Slovak politics for the past 12 years, resigned on March 15 to end a coalition crisis over the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak. 

Fico stood down, making way for his deputy Peter Pellegrini (also of Smer-SD), and Slovak President Andrej Kiska accepted his resignation and authorised Pelligrini, currently deputy prime minister for investments and information, to form a new government. Fico will remain acting prime minister until the formation of a new government, and he will continue as leader of Smer.

His move didn’t satisfy civil society. “The arrogance of a few powerful people will not defeat us, we will do it together,” said Karolína Farská, one of the organisers of the March 16 protests, which took place under the slogan “For a Decent Slovakia”. 

Demonstrators were shouting “Enough of Smer” and “Early elections”. 

“The revolution started by the parents has to be finished by their children,” said former politician and ex-presidential candidate František Mikloško.

Although at the political level the crisis might be calming down, civil society and the public are discontented, which may throw Slovakia into an even deeper crisis. Slovak media are comparing their ex-prime minister to Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling conservative Law and Justice party in Poland, who is steering the government from behind the scenes.

Fico appeared to confirm these fears on March 15. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am not saying goodbye at all. We will see each other soon at press briefings and as a head of the strongest party I will be part of the coalition council,” Fico said. “I am not leaving, I will be an active chairman of the political party,” he added with a wide smile.

In an effort to calm down the situation, Pellegrini said in an interview with privately-owned Markiza TV on March 18, that he wants a non-polarising government and does not want either a long-time member of the ruling Smer party or a person with limited experience to be appointed as interior minister.

"A lot of names are being mentioned. However, it should not be any high-ranking official of the party. It must be an experienced person. I personally encourage my party mates to seek a person who will not have to familiarise himself with the given sector for a month or two. This government will not be eligible for a 100-day [orientation period]," said Pellegrini.

“I want to inform the president of ministers’ names tomorrow or Tuesday and I want parliament to start a discussion on the new government’s programme on Tuesday or Wednesday,” Pellegrini proclaimed.

Aside from the anti-government protests, pressure is also mounting for the resignation of the Police Corps president Tibor Gaspar. Even the coalition partners of Smer-SD, the centrist largely ethnic Hungarian party Most-Hid and the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), called for Gaspar’s resignation.

"If I were him, I would no longer be in that post," stated Radovan Balaz of SNS on TA3's programme In Politics. "It's undesirable and unimaginable that people who are so distrusted by the public remain in their posts," added Gabor Gal of Most-Hid.

Pellegrini declined to comment on a potential change to the Police Corps president. "If we commented on it, we would show that the Police Corps president's strings are being pulled by politicians. The new interior minister will have to have an opinion on his replacement or whether he stays in the post," Pellegrini stated.

Moreover, Italian businessman Antonino Vadala, who was named in a posthumous article by Kuciak into alleged mafia infiltration of Fico’s government, was taken into custody again on March 13 in connection to drug crimes.

“With the European arrest warrant, the Italian court is demanding the extradition of Antonino Vadala for criminal prosecution in Italy for a drug crime committed by an international organised crime group,” said Andrea Predajňová, spokesperson for the General Prosecutor’s Office.

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