Slovak opposition wants euro bailout plan

BRATISLAVA: The Slovak parliament should be approved a plan to boost euro zone's bailout fund agreed by European leaders last month, said opposition chief Robert Fico on Tuesday.

Fico, leader of the centre-left Smer party, said he would seek talks with other parties on the issue but stopped well short of pledging to support the legislation, expected to land in parliament in the autumn.

The centre-right cabinet holds a slightly parliamentary majority but one of its member parties has strongly opposed beefing up the rescue funds, which may make the cabinet dependent on support from the opposition.

"All parties in Slovakia should support the euro bailout plan," Fico said after meeting Prime Minister Iveta Radicova.

"But the fact that we are backing it does not mean that we will stroll in tomorrow and throw in our votes."

He said his party wanted the coalition to stick together in order to win support from Smer.

Parliamentary approval is required in some euro zone countries for the plan which is aimed at widening the powers of Europe's bailout vehicle, European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and to create its successor, the ESM.

The new rules would allow the EFSF to buy government bonds on the secondary market and give precautionary credit lines to countries before they are shut out of credit markets.

Slovakia is one of several euro zone countries where approval may not be smooth. A liberal government party, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), has been adamantly opposing the plan.

Fico, whose party rides high in opinion polls with elections still three years away, said the coalition should fall if it cannot find common ground on such important issue.

"If the coalition cannot find an agreement on the most important issue since it was formed, then it does not have the right to exist," he said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011