lovak Parliament voted Wednesday evening not to recall Finance Minister Jan Pociatek from his post. The opposition demanded his ouster due to the scandal that surfaced around the potential leak in information on the change of the central parity. The opposition insisted that the scandal would be reason enough in a normal country to necessitate Mr. Pociatek's immediate resignation.
Only three deputies from the coalition People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (LS-HZDS) camp attended the vote. Tibor Cabaj and Beata Saniova upheld Mr. Pociatek while Jozef Halecky refrained from voting. Forty-eight lawmakers backed the no-confidence motion while 55 deputies voted in favor of the minister. One M.P. refrained from voting. Votes of at least 76 deputies are needed to recall a cabinet member. All three opposition parties have 58 deputies.
Following Labor Minister Viera Tomanova and Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek, Mr. Pociatek is the third minister of Robert Fico's Cabinet who survived a parliamentary no-confidence motion.
Suspicions of a potential information leak concerning the change in the central parity started to appear based on significant trading activity on the Slovak FOREX market on May 28. Opposition deputy Ivan Miklos accused J&T and Istrokapital of profiting from these transactions. A few days before the parity changed, Minister Pociatek was a guest on a yacht of J&T in Monaco. Prime Minister Robert Fico did not accept the resignation offered by minister Pociatek saying he sees no reason to recall him. The prime minister said that Mr. Pociatek has done a good job despite this foolish mistake, which tainted the whole government.