Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is reorganizing his ruling coalition to strengthen his Smer party in response to defections that threatened his parliamentary majority. Under a new agreement, junior coalition partners Hlas and Slovak National Party will relinquish ministerial positions to Smer, granting it control over nine ministries. Fico aims to stabilize the coalition, which is facing dissent and opposition efforts for a no-confidence vote. Recent turmoil included defections from the SNS party and opposition protests over Fico’s controversial policies and ties with Russia.
"Smer will use this political influence to stabilize the ruling coalition and regain its parliamentary majority," Fico said in a post on his Facebook page.
The agreement comes after Fico's power was threatened both by a crisis in his own coalition as well as repeated attempts from the opposition to bring forward a no-confidence vote.
Fico said that the deal made giving his party control of extra ministries would help him in negotiating with the dissenting voices, although he did not provide details on how.
In January, Fico's power was additionally tested when opposition parties attempted to bring a no-confidence vote in the Slovak parliament.
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