US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA683

C O N F I D E N T I A L  BRATISLAVA 000683 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, ETRD, PINR, KDEM, LO 
SUBJECT: RUSKO SACKED BY PRESIDENT; COALITION WEAKENED, BUT 
STILL STANDING 
 
REF: A. BRATISLAVA 682 
     B. BRATISLAVA 677 
     C. BRATISLAVA 663 
     D. BRATISLAVA 626 
     E. BRATISLAVA 618 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for Reasons 1.4(B) and (D) 
. 
 
1.  (C)  President Ivan Gasparovic fired Minister of the 
Economy Pavol Rusko (reftels) at noon August 24, after Rusko 
failed to submit his resignation by 9:00am as demanded at a 
press conference last night by Prime Minister Dzurinda. 
Rusko's Alliance of New Citizen (ANO) party announced that it 
would remain in the coalition, but one MP has already 
defected, and the Prime Minister told the Ambassador that he 
believes at least seven will depart from the troubled party 
and continue to support the ruling coalition. 
 
RUSKO AS MARTYR 
--------------- 
 
2.  (C)  Following an afternoon meeting of the coalition 
council on August 23, sources told us that the coalition had 
decided that Rusko would be asked to resign by Friday, giving 
the Prime Minister -- and ANO -- time to identify and agree 
upon a possible replacement Minister.  However, in the 
evening hours following this meeting, PM Dzurinda told a 
press conference there had been a transfer of SKK 1.5 billion 
(around USD 48 million) in Ministry of Economy funds 
(received from the EU and earmarked for small and medium 
enterprise development) to one single company August 22.  The 
unauthorized transfer was the straw that broke the 
coalition's back; Dzurinda took to the airwaves to call for 
Rusko's resignation by 9:00am the next day.  Dzurinda echoed 
this in a meeting with the Ambassador August 24 when he said 
that he had to take the step because of Rusko's "corruption." 
 
3.  (C)  Rusko, as we expected, decided to try for martyr 
status, preferring to be fired (and thus, be seen as the 
"victim" of the coalition) rather than to resign under the 
shadow of his suspected dirty business deals.  After the 
9:00am deadline passed, Dzurinda forwarded his request to 
recall Rusko to President Gasparovic, who removed Rusko from 
his ministerial post at noon.  Minister of Finance Ivan 
Miklos (a member of Dzurinda's SDKU party) has been placed in 
temporary and concurrent control of the Ministry of Economy 
until the installation of a new Minister.  Rusko, still a 
member of parliament, will retain his immunity from 
prosecution.  Miklos has already announced three initiatives 
that he will undertake as caretaker Minister of Economy: 
preventing suspicious financial transactions, privatizing the 
Slovak Power Co., and resolving the problems surrounding the 
construction of the new KIA plant in Zilina. 
 
IN PARLIAMENT, EIGHT IS ENOUGH 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (C)  After Dzurinda's evening press conference, ANO 
immediately retreated to a late-night strategy session that 
we are told adjourned at 3:00am.  Already plagued by the 
divisive vote of the party presidium on Monday night (during 
which five members -- including the two other ANO cabinet 
Ministers in government -- voted for Rusko to resign), the 
midnight hours brought more potential disarray to the party. 
ANO MP Jozef Heriban announced that he was leaving the party, 
and we are told that altogether eight of ANO's eleven MPs may 
defect; this number may be crucial, as eight MPs are required 
to form a "club" in Parliament, allowing the members to 
operate as a pro-coalition voting block independently of ANO. 
 
THE MEN WHO MIGHT BE MINISTERS 
------------------------------ 
 
5.  (C)  ANO, under the coalition agreement, "owns" three 
Ministries:  Economy, Culture, and Health.  However, Minister 
of Culture Frantisek Toth and Minister of Health Rudolf Zajac 
both voted against Rusko in the ANO presidium meeting, and 
the party has thus called for their replacement as well.  ANO 
proposes that Vladimir Menich, currently State Secretary at 
the Ministry of Transportation, be elevated to Minister of 
the Economy, and has recommended that Milan Kepena, a 
regional representative in the Banska Bystrica government, be 
elevated to Minister of Culture, though the party has not yet 
identified a possible replacement for the Zajac at the 
Ministry of Health. 
 
PRIME MINISTER TO THE AMBASSADOR: SEVEN ON MY SIDE 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
6. (C) However, PM Dzurinda himself has told us that he has 
not yet taken action on the proposed cabinet shuffle, because 
he is waiting to see whether or not ANO continues to 
fragment, and, if so, if the piece of the party remaining 
 
 
with Rusko is worth retaining in the coalition.  During the 
Ambassador's introductory call on him, Dzurinda told us that 
he felt there were at least seven of the former eleven ANO 
MPs already on his "side" and supporting the coalition, and 
if they split from the party, he feels that he will be free 
to replace the ANO cabinet Ministers with other coalition 
representatives.  However, he said he "needs time" to 
continue discussions with those remaining close to Rusko, who 
he hinted were ANO MPs Eva Cerna, Beata Brestenska, and Iveta 
Henzelyova. 
 
 
COMMENT: WHY THERE WON'T BE EARLY ELECTIONS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C)  Early elections -- which would, if called, be held 
only a few months before the regularly scheduled elections 
next fall -- are unlikely, and none of our contacts in either 
coalition or opposition parties have expressed serious 
interest in calling for early polls.  Knowing this, Dzurinda 
told the Ambassador that he does not consider this crisis 
"serious," and is confident that the parliament will continue 
to support him.  For Dzurinda, having the "right" people in 
the Ministries of Economy, Culture, and Health in the year 
before the election is likely worth much mor than having a 
three-vote ANO remain in the coalition. 
VALLEE 
 
 
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