All Opposition MPs to Jointly Initiate No-confidence Motion in Government

Bratislava, January 14 (TASR) - Opposition MPs from Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), the Christian Democrats (KDH) and the caucus of 'Slovakia', 'For the People' and the Christian Union (KU) parties will initiate a no-confidence motion in the government of Robert Fico (Smer-SD) within the next few days, the leaders of opposition parties told a news conference on Tuesday. According to them, the premier is failing in governance. They pointed to problems in the health-care sector, rising prices, and most recently, issues at the land registry office. At the same time, they spoke about attempts to question Slovakia's foreign-political orientation. They don't want to let the premier "abduct" Slovakia eastwards, as they believe he has no mandate to do so. Opposition leaders stressed that despite the many differences between them, they've managed to unite for a proposal via which they are seeking the government's fall. "When it comes to democracy, freedom and the European identity of our homeland, we'll defend them together. We'll never allow Premier Robert Fico to abduct Slovakia to somewhere in Moscow. He has no mandate to do so, and it's against the interests of the citizens of Slovakia," reads their joint statement. According to them, Fico is failing in governance, with individual sectors falling apart one by one. PS leader Michal Simecka stated that prices and taxes have been increasing since the new year, more and more people in Slovakia are suffering from economic poverty, and now the land registry office has come into the equation. "We still have no guarantee that the state has every piece of data under control, we don't know when they will be restored. The real estate and mortgage markets are at a standstill, people can't sell or buy real estate, while the premier is writing open letters and flying around the world," he said. "I think this is a big signal that when Slovakia is at stake, we are able find common ground, we are able to unite, and we are able act together," stated SaS chief Branislav Groehling. He pointed out that partners in neighbouring countries are turning their backs on Slovakia, while the government is wrecking the country's economic boom. According to KDH chairman Milan Majersky, there are universal values ​​that unite the opposition. "We are standing here as the entire opposition, and we want to say clearly and distinctly that Robert Fico's government is harming the citizens of Slovakia," he said. He pointed to the "messy" consolidation of public finances, depriving ordinary families of money, while the premier is seeking help from totalitarian regimes. 'Slovakia', 'For the People' and KU caucus head Michal Sipos stated that Slovakia is collapsing. "We are finally together, we are united, and we are going to seek Robert Fico's dismissal," he said. Independent MPs Lubomir Galko and Martina Bajo Holeckova have also signed up to the proposal. ko/df