US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA531

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000531 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, LO 
SUBJECT: DZURINDA'S GOVERNMENT SURVIVES ANOTHER 
NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE 
 
1. (U) Summary. In the last parliamentary vote before summer 
recess, Smer Chairman Robert Fico's motion of no confidence 
against Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda received only 60 
votes out of the 76 necessary to recall him.  Smer, LS-HZDS 
(People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia), and 
eight independent MPs supported Dzurinda's recall.  This was 
Smer's eighth unsuccessful attempt to recall a government 
minister, proving the ability of this minority government to 
finish its term and the opposition's inability to cooperate. 
End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) On July 6, Parliament's last agenda item before 
summer recess was to vote on the no confidence motion against 
Prime Minister Dzurinda brought forward by the Chairman of 
the opposition party Smer Robert Fico.  The vote due to be 
held at two o'clock was rescheduled an hour earlier so MPs 
could start their vacation and the discussion was shortened. 
This illustrated the coalition's certainty that the Prime 
Minister's position was secure, as well as the lack of public 
attention to the eighth no-confidence vote against the 
Dzurinda government.  The vote concluded with 60 deputies in 
favor of recalling PM Dzurinda and 61 deputies voting against 
the initiative.  The absence of 13 of the 22 independent MPs, 
including Dzurinda's former SDKU rival Ivan Simko, ensured 
Fico's motion was unable to attain the necessary 76 votes. 
 
3.  (SBU) SDKU MP Devinsky told poloffs that he presumed Fico 
would bring forward new arguments to the parliamentary floor, 
but he only continued attacks that have been repeated 
throughout the year.  Fico focused on the quick pace of harsh 
reforms and the lack of transparency of SDKU's party 
financing.  He specifically mentioned a hospital contract 
awarded to the spouse of SDKU MP Novotny that was connected 
to the Slovak Railroad and SDKU management.  Since Fico's 
statement, Novotny's wife announced her withdrawal from the 
contract.  Fico also attacked other SDKU MPs, including 
Jarmila Tkacova currently under investigation for fraud.  He 
stated that the right-leaning coalition is his primary enemy, 
showing his "you are either with me or against me" style of 
leadership. 
 
4.  (SBU) Dzurinda was seated directly behind the speaker's 
podium and appeared for the most part uninterested in the 
proceedings and whispered mockingly to ministers seated 
beside him.  He quickly rebutted Fico's comments, listing the 
benefits of reform and questioning the opposition's ability 
to offer any other alternative to the status quo.  He and 
other government representatives openly called Fico a liar, 
power-hungry, and irresponsible, which received cheers from 
the floor.  In a rare moment, the coalition appeared united 
and free from the infighting that has plagued the government 
for the last year. 
 
5.  (SBU) According to HZDS MP Eduard Kolesar, opposition 
parties tacitly supported the initiative, knowing that it did 
not have enough votes to be successful.  They largely viewed 
this instead as an opportunity for Smer's Chairman Fico to 
have a media platform to promote his party while criticizing 
the government.  After the vote, the verbal fireworks began, 
with HZDS turning on Fico.  HZDS leader and former Prime 
Minister Vladimir Meciar voiced his strong opposition to the 
tactics employed by Fico, whom he said was willing to ignore 
the interests of Slovakia's citizens while he chased his and 
his business associates' goals.  Fico said in response that 
he would not be provoked, and implored Meciar to return to 
"real opposition policy."  Meciar's political tirade showed 
that PM Dzurinda owed his ability to maintain a minority 
government to the spite between Meciar and Fico, in addition 
to the large number of independent MPs. 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment:  The vote of no confidence was solely 
arranged to highlight Fico and his party, but in its 
execution, other parties were also able to present their 
programs and successes.  The vote also gave them the 
opportunity to paint Fico once again as a program-less 
populist and illustrate Smer's inability to lead the 
opposition.  The vote will unlikely affect Smer's high poll 
ratings, currently around 28 percent, because of the lack of 
public interest in the parliamentary discussion, but it also 
did not give the party any significant gains. 
THAYER 
 
 
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