Groehling: 'Slovakia' Party Wouldn't Be Stable Partner in Governing Coalition

Bratislava, 7 January (TASR) - Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party leader Branislav Groehling in an end-of-year interview for TASR has said that he can't imagine a potential future government of which the 'Slovakia' party would form part, as it wouldn't be a stable partner within the governing coalition. Groehling thinks that the foundation of the future government should be a trio comprised of SaS, Progressive Slovakia (PS) and the Christian Democrats (KDH). However, he views it as essential for these parties to agree on the economic measures that they would start promoting right after the election and to side-track certain cultural and ethical issues. "I can't envisage cooperation in a future government with the 'Slovakia' party. If the voters decide otherwise, then we'll have to 'deal with it'. I view the 'Slovakia' party just as an opposition entity that can only criticise, but it's not a stable partner for government," said Groehling. According to him, 'Slovakia' party leader Igor Matovic offers no change when compared to coalition Smer-SD chairman and current Premier Robert Fico. "Whenever there have been key situations, individual MPs from the 'Slovakia' party have sided with Fico. Igor Matovic and Robert Fico simply cannot live without each other," stated Groehling. Groehling would like to see PS and KDH as SaS's partners in a potential future government. "This should be the basis of the future government," he stated. He believes that the three parties should agree on solutions to Slovakia's economic situation before the election. "We're pushing for higher salaries for people, which goes hand in hand with proposals for lower taxes, a 19-percent flat-rate tax, simplification of value-added tax into two rates, and lower compulsory levies to social and health-care funds. We may clash with some partners regarding this," he said. However, he spoke of the need to seek consensus. He thinks that certain cultural and ethical issues shouldn't be raised for the time being, therefore. "I'm not saying that they should be dropped from agendas, but first and foremost we should present how we would be able to restart Slovakia, as people deserve to have more money in their wallets," stated Groehling. ko/df