Slovakia – Some four weeks after the early parliamentary elections on 30 September, – the last week having been spent arguing over a potential environment minister put forward by the SNS whom Zuzana Čaputová refused to appoint – the Slovak president finally named a new coalition government between the Smer-SD, the Hlas-SD and the Slovak National Party (SNS).
Robert Fico has been appointed Prime Minister
As expected following his victory in the parliamentary elections and the government agreement quickly reached with his both partners, the leader of the social-democratic Smer-SD party, Robert Fico, has become Prime Minister of Slovakia for the fourth time, a position he previously held from 2006 to 2010, then from 2012 to 2018, before handing over to his party colleague, Peter Pellegrini, who has since become the leader of the Hlas-SD, a split from the Smer, and has been elected president of the Slovak National Council (parliament) by 131 votes out of 150.
Seven portfolios for the Hlas-SD, six for the Smer-SD and three for the Slovak National Party
The seven ministers appointed by the Hlas-SD are Peter Kmec, deputy Prime minister for the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the use of EU funds; Erik Tomáš, of Labour, Social Affairs and Family; Zuzana Dolinková, minister of Health; Richard Raši, minister for Investments, Regional Development and Informatization; Denisa Saková, deputy Prime minister and minister of Economy; Tomáš Drucker, minister Education, Science, Research and Sport; and Matúš Šutaj Eštok, minister of Interior.
In addition to Robert Fico, the following Smer members belong to the government: Robert Kaliňák, deputy Prime minister and minister of Defense; Ladislav Kamenický, minister of Finance; Richard Takáč, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Boris Susko, minister of Justice; Jozef Ráž, minister of Transport; and Juraj Blanár, minister of Foreign and European Affairs.
And finally, the SNS ministers are : Ján Krišanda, minister of Tourism und Sport (from January 2024); Martina Šimkovičová, ministerin of Culture; und Tomáš Taraba, deputy Prime minister and minister of Environment.
Some of the ministers already have government experience
Some of these ministers have held senior positions before: Robert Kaliňák (Smer) has already been deputy Prime minister and Minister of Interior in for governments of Robert Fico from 2012 to 2018; Ladislav Kamenický (Smer) was already Minister of Finance in Peter Pellegrini’s government from 2019 to 2020; Juraj Blanár (Smer) was President of the Žilina district; Richard Raši (Hlas) was Mayor of Košice, the second largest city in the country; Denisa Saková (Hlas) was minister of Interior from 2018 to 2020; while Tomáš Drucker (Hlas) was minister of Health from 2016 to 2018 and minister of Interior in March/April 2018.
