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Slovakia's coalition leaders "deceived and humiliated the public," the organisers of the protests - young people who say they have no links to politics - said on Facebook. "The new government is not a real fulfillment of the demands of tens of thousands people who took to the streets asking for a decent Slovakia."
While Fico's resignation is at least a partial victory for his detractors, it weakens the position of one of the only governments in the EU's eastern wing that has portrayed itself as a counterweight against euroskeptic forces across much of the region. Fico picked as his replacement deputy Premier Peter Pellegrini, who is now in talks to form a new Cabinet as soon as next week. He has pledged to continue with Fico's pro-EU orientation.
People rather keys after the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico and his government.
Photo: APSmer has made eliminating corruption a priority after media reports on intransparent tenders and tax fraud by businessmen linked to politicians. But no active senior politician has ever been convicted in the country of 5.4 million. In his last story, published after he was slain with his fiancee in an execution-style hit, the journalist Jan Kuciak reported on links of Fico associates to Italian companies allegedly stealing EU funds in eastern Slovakia. The outgoing Prime Minister has repeatedly denied wrongdoing by his government.
The political crisis was triggered by the slayings of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova.
Photo: APFico held to his post until the last minute, hoping the resignation of his protege, Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, on Monday would appease protesters and the coalition Most party, which had asked for his dismissal. After Most demanded a snap vote, Fico quit in a last-ditch effort to salvage the ruling grouping two years before general elections.
But even without premiership, he will keep a strong voice in running the country as the head of Smer. The main concern among the protests' organizers is that Fico will continue to run the government from behind the scene like his fellow ruling-party bosses in Romania and Poland.
"It's likely that Fico - similarly to the leader of the ruling conservative Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, in Poland - will continue to steer the government from the background," Otilia Dhand, an analyst at Teneo Intelligence in Brussels said in a note. "It cannot be ruled out that public pressure will force a change of heart among some members of Parliament."
Bloomberg