Slovakia PM Survives No-Confidence Vote

Posted September 14th, 2011 at 10:12 am (UTC-5)
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Slovakian Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote in the first test of her center-right coalition government.

After 12 hours of heated discussions Wednesday, 78 of 147 lawmakers voted to back Prime Minister Radicova, while 69 supported the no-confidence vote. The opposition fell seven votes short of the 76 it needed to take down the government.

The Slovak National Party and opposition Smer-Social Democracy Party of former prime minister Robert Fico requested the vote. Those parties accused Ms. Radicova of corruption in a building deal and said she does not have the ability to gain the support of the coalition lawmakers needed to ratify the eurozone rescue fund.

Ms. Radicova faces opposition to the bailout plan from her junior coalition partner, the Freedom and Solidarity Party. Without its support, the government cannot muster enough votes to pass the bailout fund.