Slovak president set 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 on
pledges to roll back economic reforms.

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.

Fico’s party will have 50 places in the 150-seat parliament
after winning 29 percent of votes in the first election since
the former communist state joined the European Union in 2004.

Fico, a 41-year-old lawyer, faces weeks of coalition talks
to forge an alliance that has a majority in the assembly. He
said he had begun informal talks with other parties but it was
too early to say which coalition alternative he favored.

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.

They could also determine whether Slovakia adopts the euro
single currency on Jan 1, 2009, as planned although Fico has
pledged to respect that target unless he decides it is not in
Slovakia’s interests.

Fico has vowed to break with the radical reforms
implemented by the centre-right government of Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda over the last eight years which boosted
investment but left unemployment high and proved too painful
for many Slovaks.

MESSAGE RECEIVED ON REFORMS

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 EU membership, has faded.

Fico has vowed 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.

He signaled on Sunday he would 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.

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 asks him to form a coalition.

Dzurinda’s centre-right Democratic and Christian Union won
18.4 percent of the votes and will have 31 seats in parliament.

“I will try to ensure Slovakia can continue the (reform)
path started in 1998 and extended in 2002,” said Dzurinda, who
met Gasparovic separately.

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.

“Political risk is high and everyone is waiting to see what
kind of government emerges,” said Branislav Haban, a bond
dealer at Slovenska Sporitelna bank.