US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA682

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000682 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, ECON, ETRD, LO 
SUBJECT: COALITION MEETS: RUSKO LIKELY OUT BY FRIDAY 
 
REF: A. BRATISLAVA 677 
 
     B. BRATISLAVA 626 
     C. BRATISLAVA 618 
 
Classified By: DCM Lawrence R. Silverman for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1.  (C)  Sources with inside knowledge of the August 23 
Coalition Council meeting told us that the Prime Minister 
will indeed dismiss Minister of the Economy Pavol Rusko, but 
not until Friday (reftels).  Rusko told coalition partners he 
will not voluntarily step down.  The source commented that 
Rusko prefers to be fired by the Prime Minister to save face 
in front of his ANO voters, who would view him as a "victim" 
rather than as someone who resigned in self-admission of 
guilt. 
 
2.  (C)  While Rusko will lose his Ministerial post, he will 
return to Parliament.  One contact told us that this is 
Dzurinda's preferred solution, and that Rusko will want to 
remain in Parliament to preserve his immunity from 
prosecution.  ANO will remain in the coalition.  Rusko will 
propose ANO loyalist Vladimir Snir, a businessman from 
Eastern Slovakia, as the new Minister of Economy. 
 
INSIDE ANO: DIVISION OVER RUSKO 
------------------------------- 
 
3.  (C)  During an ANO Presidium meeting Monday night, five 
members of the 22 person body either voted for Rusko to 
resign, or abstained from showing their support.  Three of 
these five (Lubomir Lintner, Jirko Malcharek, and Minister of 
Culture Frantisek Toth), are Vice Presidents of the party. 
Contacts within ANO tell us that the meeting was quite 
heated, with one member of the body using words not suitable 
for print about the actions of her "cowardly male" colleagues 
who failed to support Rusko.  Rusko himself has vowed to 
"clean house" at ANO and remove the "traitors" from his 
party. 
 
4.  (C)  Comment: While today's Coalition Council meeting 
adds a degree of predictability to the future of Rusko and 
the coalition, the future of ANO as a party is even more in 
flux; post notes that this is Tuesday, and that by Friday, 
anything could happen. End Comment. 
 
POSTSCRIPT:  PRO-U.S. POLICIES WILL CONTINUE 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  During the Ambassador's credentials presentation 
today, President Gasparovic alluded to the coalition's 
"problems," but reassured the Ambassador that the 
government's pro-U.S. policies would remain unaffected. 
VALLEE 
 
 
NNNN