Fico comes one step closer to securing third term as PM

Slovakia's leftist Premier Robert Fico came a step closer to securing a governing coalition Saturday, after a right-wing party that emerged as kingmaker from last weekend's general election vowed its support. Andrej Danko, whose conservative, eurosceptic Slovak National Party (SNS) controls 15 crucial seats and is in talks with Fico, on Saturday ruled out a coalition with election runner-up, the liberal Freedom and Solidarity SaS party. SaS leader "Richard Sulik cannot guarantee a functional and stable government", Danko told journalists in Bratislava.
"Should this first round of negotiations fail, I prefer a government of independent experts. We are also willing to go to early elections," Danko added. "The SNS has gradually become king-maker in the process of creating the next Slovak government," Jan Baranek, an analyst with the Polis Slovakia think tank told AFP, adding that the SNS "has transformed itself from a nationalist party into a traditional conservative one." Despite having differing political stripes, Fico's leftist Smer-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) and the right-wing SNS forged a coalition government in 2006-10.
Both campaigned on a strident anti-migrant platform ahead of the March 5 election. With his Smer-SD commanding 49 of the 150-seats in parliament, Fico has until March 18 to secure at least 26 others for a majority. Analysts believe that aside from SNS, Fico could woo Most-Hid (Bridge) representing the Hungarian minority with 11 seats, and the liberal Siet (The Net), which debuted in parliament with 10 seats.
"The new government will be created with the cooperation of Smer, Most-Hid, SNS and Siet," Baranek said. Should Fico fail, centrist President Andrej Kiska will ask the runner-up, SaS leader Sulik, to form a majority government. But without Danko's SNS, analysts insist Sulik does not stand a chance.
If coalition talks fail, the president can appoint a caretaker government of independent experts. Should it fail to obtain a 90-member vote of confidence, the president must dissolve parliament and call early elections. The political horse-trading comes as Slovakia is gearing up to take the EU's rotating presidency from July - a role that will put the health of its democracy under the spotlight. Last Saturday's election yielded a fragmented result, with a record eight parties entering parliament including the debut of the extreme right-wing LS-Nase Slovensko (Our Slovakia) led by Marian Kotleba with 14 seats.