Slovak President to ask leftist to form govt

By Peter Laca

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) – Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic was
set on Monday to ask leftist leader Robert Fico to form a
coalition government after his Smer party won an election but
fell short of a majority.

Gasparovic met Fico at the start of a day of talks with
party leaders following Saturday’s election, and was expected
to make a formal announcement later on Monday.

“The president informed me that he intends to ask me to
form a new government after he has held talks with the other
leaders of parliamentary parties,” Fico said after meeting
Gasparovic, adding that they had discussed various coalition
ideas.

Fico’s party will have 50 places in the 150-seat parliament
after winning 29 percent of votes. He plans a break with tough
economic reforms implemented by the centre-right government of
Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda over the last eight years.

The election result reflects a trend across central Europe
where voters are sending a clear message that the speed of
change, once justified by the lure of European Union
membership, has faded after accession to the bloc in 2004.

Fico, a 41-year-old lawyer, faces weeks of tough
negotiations on forming a coalition. Dzurinda, whose
centre-right party won 18.4 percent of votes, may yet have a
chance to stay in power if Fico fails.

“We are waiting to begin (coalition) negotiations after
meeting the president. We are going to invite all parties for
talks, which will most likely take place toward the end of the
week,” Smer deputy chairman Robert Kalinak said.

The talks are likely to decide the fate of reforms which
won plaudits abroad and transformed the landlocked nation of
5.4 million people into one of Europe’s fastest-growing
economies, but left unemployment high and proved painful for
many.

They could also determine whether Slovakia adopts the euro
single currency in 2009 as planned.

PRESIDENT MEETS OTHER PARTIES

Gasparovic was expected to formally invite Fico to start
coalition talks after completing meetings with leaders of six
other parties on Monday.

Fico has signaled he will try to woo two centre-right
parties traditionally allied to Dzurinda, rather than approach
fringe groups such as the far-right Nationalist Party which
came third with 11.7 percent of votes.

Fico vowed on Sunday to respect Slovakia’s target of
adopting the euro in 2009, but said he would not hesitate to
revise the goal if he feels it is not in the country’s
interest.

He has pledged to restore social benefits, end medical user
fees and abolish the flat tax system to draw more heavily on
wealthier firms and individuals who capitalized on the reforms.

Investors, who favor Slovakia’s swift entry into the single
currency area, are concerned about the risk of a delay. But
Slovak bonds and the crown currency were little changed on
Monday despite uncertainty about the coalition scenarios.

Foreign investment and wages have risen under Dzurinda, but
Fico cashed in on discontent with high unemployment — now 11
percent — and healthcare and pension reforms that cut
benefits.

Smer will have 19 more seats in parliament than Dzurinda’s
Democratic and Christian Union, which will have 31.

Dzurinda, eastern Europe’s longest-serving leader after
eight years at the helm, could keep power if Smer cannot form a
coalition and the president then ask him to form a coalition.