On Sunday, Prime Minister Igor Matovič announced that he would exchange posts with Finance Minister Eduard Heger (both Ordinary People party). Heger enjoys the support of all three remaining coalition parties We are Family, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and For the People.
Matovič also withdrew his demands in relation to coalition partners for the sake of resolving the coalition crisis. He required the departure of Economy Minister head Richard Sulík and Parliamentary Health Committee Chair Jana Bittó Cigániková (SaS), as well as Justice Minister Mária Kolíková and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Juraj Šeliga (both For the People).
Freedom and Solidarity and For the People required the departure of Prime Minister due to his governing style, which culminated at the beginning of March, when Matovič without the agreement of his coalition partners purchased the Russian Sputnik V vaccines, which had not been controlled by the European Medicines Agency.
The opposition Voice-SD party called the step "a total farce", an insult to the public and contempt for the thousands of people who have lost their jobs or even died during the coalition crisis. "Following a month of wrangling and insults, the coalition parties have come up with a laughable switcheroo and everyone who's recently resigned from the Government will return," reads the party's statement. Voice-SD called the event
The extra-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia (PS) party head Irena Bihariová has criticised the fact that Matovič aims to continue in the Government as Finance Minister. "He will just swap chairs and have the puppet PM Eduard Heger on his strings," she said, adding that Matovič has once again come up with a "genius" solution.
The extra parliamentary Slovak National Party (SNS) stated that "Freedom and Solidarity head Richard Sulík has definitely proven that his claims have no value" and that he and the For the People chair Veronika Remišová and We Are Family leader Boris Kollár will soon regret what they have done," remarked SNS.
