Fin Min Heger To Form New Gov't After PM Matovic Steps Down

Slovakia's Finance Minister Eduard Heger is to seek to put together a majority gov't at the invitation of President Zuzana Caputova following Prime Minsiter Igor Matovic's resignation earlier today.

• Matovic's resignation became an inevitability following the resignation of numerous ministers and the withdrawal of one party from the governing coalition following his unilateral efforts to procure doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine before it gained EMA approval.
• The gov't currently holds a comfortably majority in the National Council, controlling 80 seats in the 150-member chamber. The main demand from coalition partners had been Matovic's resignation, not the collapse of the entire gov't, so it appears likely Heger will be able to maintain a majority coalition.