Fico and Prochazka: No Divisive Issues Between Smer-SD and Siet

Bratislava, March 13 (TASR) – Neither Smer-SD chief Robert Fico, nor Siet (Network) leader Radoslav Prochazka found any divisive issues at the first round of post-election talks on Sunday evening, so another round will take place on Monday, featuring also the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most-Hid.

“We’ve come to a conclusion that there isn’t any issue that would divide us to such an extent that we wouldn’t be able to continue in the process,” said Fico.

According to Prochazka, Siet wants to learn whether participation in the Government would allow it to carry out its plans. Siet has eight priorities: approving a law against letterbox companies; personal material responsibility for politicians; lowering income taxes for individuals as well as legal entities; extending the period for paying child allowances from three to five years; an advantageous service package for entrepreneurs, including the distribution of meal vouchers on an entirely voluntary basis; scrapping the ‘tax on losses’ aka the tax licences, which have to be paid for by businesses even if they don’t post profits; and increasing government expenditures on craftsmen and farmers. Apart from this, Siet also demands enabling the Opposition to supervise the Government’s moves, mainly in health care, and boosting the team of investigators dealing with the Gorilla corruption scandal, which dates back to 2002-2006.

Prochazka noted that the talks with Smer-SD were approved unanimously by the Siet presidium earlier in the day – while Katarina Machackova and Miroslav Beblavy, both staunch critics of cooperation with Smer – were absent. Moreover, Machackova told TASR on Sunday that she’ll leave the party, if Siet enters into a coalition with Smer.

“I don’t have even the slightest reason to think that Siet will lose its parliamentary caucus,” said Prochazka at the press conference with Fico. At least eight MPs are necessary for a party to have a caucus. Meanwhile, if the two aforementioned figures actually left Siet, the party would have exactly eight MPs.