Eduard Heger's government chose posturing on the world stage instead of regional co-operation and defending national interests.Continue reading
Acting Prime Minister Eduard Heger of Slovakia asked President Zuzana Caputová for his dismissal. His decision comes after two ministers in his government announced their intention to resign earlier this week, as the President of the Republic did not find any of the acting Prime Minister’s proposals for a solution to the current government crisis acceptable. President Caputová confirmed in a speech on Sunday that Ludovít (Lajos) Ódor, vice-president of the National Bank of Slovakia, will be Prime Minister, with the names of the others to be announced in the coming days – reports ma7.sk.
The president made it clear that the government of experts would follow the ideological structure of society, including both liberal and conservative experts. The new government will be given the mandate the week of May 15.
Photo: Facebook/Zuzana Čaputová
“I will first inform the presidents of the political parties of the names, then the public,” the president said. She stressed that there is almost half a year left before the appointment of the government that will be formed after the early parliamentary elections. She said this was long enough for the official government to stabilize the situation.
She stressed that the main criterion for the selection of the new government was expertise.
At the same time, only people who are not running in the next parliamentary elections were selected. In other words, the aim is not to favor any political party in the ongoing pre-election race,”
she added. She also urged politicians not to spread “disinformation about the progressive coup or the US embassy and other lies.“
The president said the decision to appoint an acting government was the only possible step after last week’s events. “Prime Minister Eduard Heger’s proposals could not change my decision,” she said.
The Slovak Parliament, Bratislava, Photo: Pixabay
László Sólymos, chairman of the Alliance Party’s National Council, reacted to Ódor’s possible candidacy on the social networking site.
For the past three years, people who have claimed to represent Slovak Hungarians in national politics and who have succeeded in dividing our community with their hateful populist policies have been the ones who have been able to do so. Thanks to the President’s decision, we will be represented in the government until the elections by a Slovak Hungarian who is far from these low practices.
“Lajos Ódor is one of Slovakia’s best known and most respected economists, a national authority, who became Vice-President of the National Bank of Slovakia under the government of the Híd and was involved in many important economic and political decisions in Slovakia. He is a calm and thoughtful (professional) man. This is exactly what the country needs in this difficult political situation. He will have a tough job, and I wish him above all perseverance, patience, and of course, good luck in his work,” pointed out Sólymos.
In political terms, it is a significant turnaround that after an anti-Visegrád4 and anti-Hungarian government, the President of the Slovak Republic appoints an acting head of government of Hungarian nationality until the elections. The appointment of Mr. Ódor could have a positive impact on Slovak-Hungarian relations that have been strained in the recent period.
Featured image: Photo/National Bank of Slovakia