DZURINDA'S GOVERNMENT SURVIVES ANOTHER

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000531

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV LO
SUBJECT: DZURINDA'S GOVERNMENT SURVIVES ANOTHER
NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE


1. (U) Summary. In the last parliamentary vote before summer
recess, Smer Chairman Robert Fico's motion of no confidence
against Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda received only 60
votes out of the 76 necessary to recall him. Smer, LS-HZDS
(People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia),and
eight independent MPs supported Dzurinda's recall. This was
Smer's eighth unsuccessful attempt to recall a government
minister, proving the ability of this minority government to
finish its term and the opposition's inability to cooperate.
End Summary.


2. (U) On July 6, Parliament's last agenda item before
summer recess was to vote on the no confidence motion against
Prime Minister Dzurinda brought forward by the Chairman of
the opposition party Smer Robert Fico. The vote due to be
held at two o'clock was rescheduled an hour earlier so MPs
could start their vacation and the discussion was shortened.
This illustrated the coalition's certainty that the Prime
Minister's position was secure, as well as the lack of public
attention to the eighth no-confidence vote against the
Dzurinda government. The vote concluded with 60 deputies in
favor of recalling PM Dzurinda and 61 deputies voting against
the initiative. The absence of 13 of the 22 independent MPs,
including Dzurinda's former SDKU rival Ivan Simko, ensured
Fico's motion was unable to attain the necessary 76 votes.


3. (SBU) SDKU MP Devinsky told poloffs that he presumed Fico
would bring forward new arguments to the parliamentary floor,
but he only continued attacks that have been repeated
throughout the year. Fico focused on the quick pace of harsh
reforms and the lack of transparency of SDKU's party
financing. He specifically mentioned a hospital contract
awarded to the spouse of SDKU MP Novotny that was connected
to the Slovak Railroad and SDKU management. Since Fico's
statement, Novotny's wife announced her withdrawal from the
contract. Fico also attacked other SDKU MPs, including
Jarmila Tkacova currently under investigation for fraud. He
stated that the right-leaning coalition is his primary enemy,
showing his "you are either with me or against me" style of
leadership.


4. (SBU) Dzurinda was seated directly behind the speaker's
podium and appeared for the most part uninterested in the
proceedings and whispered mockingly to ministers seated
beside him. He quickly rebutted Fico's comments, listing the
benefits of reform and questioning the opposition's ability
to offer any other alternative to the status quo. He and
other government representatives openly called Fico a liar,
power-hungry, and irresponsible, which received cheers from
the floor. In a rare moment, the coalition appeared united
and free from the infighting that has plagued the government
for the last year.


5. (SBU) According to HZDS MP Eduard Kolesar, opposition
parties tacitly supported the initiative, knowing that it did
not have enough votes to be successful. They largely viewed
this instead as an opportunity for Smer's Chairman Fico to
have a media platform to promote his party while criticizing
the government. After the vote, the verbal fireworks began,
with HZDS turning on Fico. HZDS leader and former Prime
Minister Vladimir Meciar voiced his strong opposition to the
tactics employed by Fico, whom he said was willing to ignore
the interests of Slovakia's citizens while he chased his and
his business associates' goals. Fico said in response that
he would not be provoked, and implored Meciar to return to
"real opposition policy." Meciar's political tirade showed
that PM Dzurinda owed his ability to maintain a minority
government to the spite between Meciar and Fico, in addition
to the large number of independent MPs.


6. (SBU) Comment: The vote of no confidence was solely
arranged to highlight Fico and his party, but in its
execution, other parties were also able to present their
programs and successes. The vote also gave them the
opportunity to paint Fico once again as a program-less
populist and illustrate Smer's inability to lead the
opposition. The vote will unlikely affect Smer's high poll
ratings, currently around 28 percent, because of the lack of
public interest in the parliamentary discussion, but it also
did not give the party any significant gains.
THAYER


NNNN