Heger is due to meet President Zuzana Caputova, who has the power to appoint a new caretaker PM, later on Sunday
\nBratislava
\nSlovakia\u2019s Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Sunday he had asked the president to relieve him of his duties, after ministers\u2019 resignations weakened his cabinet that is serving in a caretaker capacity before elections in September.
\nHeger is due to meet President Zuzana Caputova, who has the power to appoint a new caretaker prime minister, later on Sunday.
\nHeger has faced opposition calls to make way for a technocrat administration to lead the central European country until early elections to take place in September.
\nPolls find the public favours the biggest opposition party, which is led by former prime minister Robert Fico and has opposed increasing military aid to neighbouring Ukraine.
\nThe wrangling has paralysed politics in the NATO and European Union member that has been a strong backer of Kyiv since Russia\u2019s invasion. Its efforts to reduce the impact of high energy costs and inflation on its population have also driven political tensions.
\nHeger said on Sunday he did not want the political crisis to drag on.
\n\u201cI decided to ask the president to remove my authority and to leave the president space to try with a technocrat government to stably and peacefully lead Slovakia to democratic parliamentary elections,\u201d he said in a televised news conference.
\nThe ruling coalition, led by Heger, lost its majority in September last year when the libertarian SaS party quit and later accused the government of not doing enough to help people with energy costs that last year hit record levels in Europe.
\nHeger lost a no-confidence vote in December last year and in January he agreed to early elections as the best solution, leaving him in a caretaker role.
\nSeveral ministers have left government, citing a variety of reasons. Most recently, the farm minister stepped down this week following a scandal over a subsidy for a firm he owns. He denied any wrongdoing.
\nOn Friday, the foreign minister offered his resignation.
\nIt was not certain whether Caputova would name a new prime minister on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Heger is due to meet President Zuzana Caputova, who has the power to appoint a new caretaker PM, later on Sunday Bratislava Slovakia\u2019s Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Sunday he had asked the president to relieve him of his duties, after ministers\u2019 resignations weakened his cabinet that is serving in a caretaker capacity before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-329951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n