Monitor: Pellegrini Expects No Major Cabinet Reshuffle This Autumn

(TA3,'V politike', 12 July) President Peter Pellegrini does not expect major changes to the composition of the government this autumn, although he said individual ministers could leave their posts. The president made these remarks on the TA3's political discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics). Pellegrini said he believed the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) and its nominee, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba, will resolve their dispute by the end of September. "There may be some changes or a minister may step down, but that would more likely be due to an individual minister deciding to pursue another opportunity. For example, if the Finance Minister wishes to become part of the leadership of the Slovak Central Bank. These would be individual decisions by ministers to continue their careers elsewhere, with replacements appointed accordingly," he said. Pellegrini noted that he had not yet discussed any possible change at the head of the Environment Ministry with Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD). He also criticised the parliamentary leadership over the scheduling of parliamentary sittings, arguing that MPs should continue debating until all agenda items have been completed rather than setting a fixed end date in advance. He also opposed postponing debates on opposition motions to dismiss ministers. "If the coalition knows it has a majority, there's no risk of any minister being removed. This new practice of accumulating five, six, seven or eight motions to dismiss ministers and then debating them a year and a half later undermines healthy competition between the opposition and the coalition," he said. As for the planned removal of opposition parliamentary vice-chair Martin Dubeci (Progressive Slovakia), Pellegrini also rejected the dismissal of political office-holders on an "eye for an eye" basis. The president underlined that he will not campaign in support of any political party ahead of the 2027 parliamentary elections and that it's up to the prime minister to decide how to approach the campaign. "If you want to be prime minister, you need a vision that includes political parties with which you can form a coalition. But if your only goal is to win, even knowing you may end up as the strongest opposition leader, then you may choose not to take either potential coalition partner into account," he said. mf