President Tests Fico Camp's Cohesion But Scope Of Challenge Indicates Her Lame-Duck Status

President Zuzana Caputova put the cohesion of incoming Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition to a test by telling him late last week to drop his candidate for the Environment Minister or risk a delay to the formation of his government, possibly beyond the date of an EU summit scheduled for October 26-27. However, the scope of her challenge is relatively limited, highlighting the imbalance of power in her conflict with the incoming government.

• Caputova demanded that the incoming government withdraws the ministerial nomination for Rudolf Huliak of the nationalist SNS party, a hitherto obscure politician and mayor of the village of Ocova in central Slovakia, climate change denialist and propagator of conspiracy theories.
• The President's move puts the cohesion of Fico's emerging coalition to a test, forcing them to find an alternative candidate or push back at the cost of a delay to government formation. On the other hand, the scope of contestation reflects the limited role of Slovak presidency and Caputova's personal bargaining power.
• Local media outlets report that the list of ministerial candidates contains a number of controversial names, yet Caputova only expressed her reservations to Huliak's candidacy. This might be indicative of her waning influence, with just six months left until the next presidential election in which she is not planning to run.
• Both Fico and the SNS have been adamant that their government should be sworn in soon, even if the environment portfolio is temporarily left vacant. While Huliak and his political camp could challenge the President's refusal to accept his nomination in the Constitutional Court, arriving at the verdict could take several months.