Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico has signed an agreement with Samuel Migal and Radomir Salitros, who were ejected from Fico’s Smer’s key ruling coalition ally, the conservative centre-left Hlas party.

“A few minutes ago I signed an agreement with non-aligned parliamentarians Migal and Salitros, which creates conditions for securing a stable majority of the ruling coalition in the National Council” (parliament), Fico wrote on his Facebook social media page on March 18.

He added that the “public will be informed of further development in the nearest hours and days” and also thanked Hlas party parliamentarian Ján Ferenčák for his “attitude to solve this situation.”

As bne IntelliNews covered, Hlas ejected Samuel Migal’ and Radomír Šalitroš from its ranks in January after they, together with Ján Ferenčák and Roman Malatinec, criticised its leadership and the increasing convergence between Hlas and Smer’s national conservative agenda.

Hlas leader Matúš Šutaj Eštok called the two “blackmailers” interested in “power positions” who “infiltrated” Hlas while he “extended his hand” to the remaining two Ferenčák and Malatinec in January.

The move left the ruling coalition scrapping for the majority, as the third coalition party, the far-right SNS, was weakened following the departure of Rudolf Huliak and two more legislators from its ranks in the parliament in the autumn.

In recent development, Fico moved to reshuffle his cabinet, and later gave the portfolio of tourism and sport to Huliak in an effort to restore the parliamentary majority.

Last weekend, Migal’ signalled his group of legislators might obtain the investment portfolio previously held by Hlas, while saying he does not prefer the looming early elections and pointing to the surging Republika, with which Smer could seek an alliance in a possible post-election arrangement if negotiations failed and early elections were to take place this spring.

“If we do not want a government in which fascists will sit after this government falls apart [...], then we will simply have to find a compromise,” Migal said earlier.

If Migal’s group rejoins the ruling coalition, Fico could wield the narrow 79 majority in the parliament of 150 along which his ruling coalition of Smer, Hlas and SNS was formed in the autumn of 2023.