Fico: Earlier Budget Approval Will Mean Greater Stability

Bratislava, 8 July (TASR) - Earlier approval of next year's state budget would mean greater stability for the current government, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has stated in an interview for TASR, not ruling out the possibility that coalition negotiations regarding the budget could drag on, however. According to him, the current coalition isn't an ideologically homogeneous group. "On the contrary, it's a rather complicated coalition in terms of the differences between the political parties. Two parties represent social democracy, although of a differing nature, while the third is a conservative right-wing party. On top of that, we're approaching a pre-election year, and each of them will want to make its mark in the budget drafting process," he said. Fico is aware, therefore, that he'll have to put a great deal of effort into aligning positions and finding compromises. "Despite that, there might be some turbulence, with nervousness over opinion polls also factoring in," he added. Nevertheless, his Smer-SD party remains committed to approving the budget as quickly as possible, because swift approval would mean stability. "If our coalition partners drag this out, I'll have to respect that. Therefore, we might even end up approving the budget in December, but that would be a pity," admitted Fico. He said that if this is the case, however, Smer-SD isn't keen on engaging in battles within the coalition, reiterating that the previous three governments under his helm completed their full tenure. "I have the same ambition now," he said, adding that the focus should be on the regular elections, with Smer-SD aiming for victory. Fico is also convinced that Slovakia's political system needs to be changed in the future, as it's currently based on a large number of political entities. He favours a system in which ideologically similar blocs compete for voter support, thus preventing a situation in which, regardless of which bloc wins, people with no experience in governing the country can become part of the government. jrg/df