President Accepts Resignation of Labour Minister Krajniak, Appoints Dolezal

Bratislava, March 17 (TASR) – President Zuzana Caputova on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Milan Krajniak (We Are Family) and at the same time commissioned Transport Minister Andrej Dolezal (a We Are Family nominee) to take up the post on a temporary basis.

Krajniak announced that he was stepping down on Monday (March 15) and asked the president to be released as soon as possible. He described his decision as a step to demonstrate We Are Family’s efforts to end the coalition crisis in the shortest possible time.

The government crisis erupted after the purchase of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, but tensions in the coalition have been present for a long period. All the parties agree that they don’t want a snap election. SaS and For the People demanded that Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) should step down, and he has already done so. They are also calling on Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) to leave his post. If he doesn’t resign, SaS will leave the Government, with For the People mentioning a similar scenario. OLaNO stands behind Matovic. The president has called on the premier to end the government crisis as soon as possible.