Rasi: Coalition Council Spoke about Possibilities of Deal with MPs around Huliak

Bratislava, February 7 (TASR) - At the Coalition Council meeting on Thursday (February 6), representatives of the governing coalition defined the options for cooperation so that the Independent MPs centred around Rudolf Huliak will support the government as well, said Investment Minister and coalition Voice-SD vice-chair Richard Rasi on Friday. An agreement between the coalition parties and Huliak should be the result of the meeting, said Rasi, who declined to comment on potential personnel changes at the ministries. According to him, the priority is to achieve a sufficient number of MPs for the government to be able to work. "We've defined the possibilities for cooperation so that the MPs around Huliak, who are four in number, will continue to support the governing coalition and the Slovak government. We exchanged opinions, stances, we spoke about where we could meet, and now we're waiting for MP Huliak to discuss this with his colleagues, and the result should be the signing of an agreement with the coalition parties so that they'll continue to support the government," Rasi told journalists during his trip to the town of Filakovo (Banska Bystrica region) on Friday, adding that it could be a matter of the next few days, but also of a longer period. "For the government to function, it is important not only to have a close [majority of] 76 [MPs], but to return to the original support number of 79, so that it can govern in a more comfortable manner," said Rasi. Asked which ministers should leave the government, Rasi would only say that "the nomination of ministers is fully within the powers of the coalition partners and that nothing has changed about that". Rasi thinks that Huliak should hold negotiations about gaining a ministerial post with the Slovak National Party (SNS), as this is the party on whose election slate he ran. Concerning the election of a new House chair, this can only be held after the coalition agrees on nominations for other personnel elections, such as the STVR Council members, the Media Council, a member of the TASR Board of Directors, and a judge of the Constitutional Court. Rasi remains as Voice's nominee for the House chair post. ko/df