Health Minister Krajci to Tender Resignation on Friday

Bratislava, March 12 (TASR) - Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) will tender his resignation as early as on Friday because he doesn't want the date of his ouster to provide any pretext for the toppling of the Government, TASR learnt from ministry spokesperson Zuzana Eliasova on Friday. Krajci announced his decision to step down on Thursday (March 11), adding that two junior coalition parties had demanded his ouster as a condition for them to remain in the Government. The SaS and For the People parties wanted Krajci to go because Slovakia topped the global list of COVID-19 fatalities per million inhabitants in mid-February. [Slovakia is now in second place behind the Czech Republic, with 17.9 deaths per million people on March 11 compared to 19.96 deaths/million in the Czech Republic - ed.note] Originally, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) reported that Krajci's departure would be gradual. Krajci was supposed to counsel his successor for a few weeks and not leave until inoculation with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine began in Slovakia. The name of the new minister hasn't been announced yet. mf/df