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| - Slovakia's president on Tuesday piled pressure on Prime Minister Igor Matovic to resolve a crisis that could topple the government after public anger over the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Junior members of the four-party coalition government of the centrist prime minister have threatened to quit if he does not step down by Wednesday next week. So far, the media savvy but unpredictable 47-year-old former media mogul has refused to budge. President Zuzanna Caputova, a liberal, said she had asked Matovic to spell out "how he wants to resolve this critical situation" during talks in Bratislava on Tuesday. "He did not have a specific answer for me," Caputova told reporters, describing the crisis as political "agony". Slovakia, a eurozone country of 5.4 million people, is struggling with one of the world's highest per capita rates of Covid-19 deaths and infection, according to an AFP tally based on official data. The grim toll and a series of political steps linked to the pandemic triggered outrage among coalition partners governing with Matovic's centrist OLaNO party. Despite their threats to quit the government should Matovic refuse to step down, they all also want to avoid a snap election. Opinion polls suggest opposition left parties could win a possible snap ballot. OLaNO party member Eduard Heger, the current finance minister and acting health minister, has been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Matovic. Economy Minister and SaS party leader Richard Sulik told reporters on Monday he could "imagine a solid discussion" about Heger becoming prime minister. Heger has not revealed whether he would consider taking over as prime minister from his party boss. Bratislava-based political analyst Samuel Abraham told AFP on Tuesday that it would be "impossible" to save the coalition should Matovic remain prime minister, comparing him to former US president Donald Trump in his handling of the pandemic. Matovic has "managed the pandemic arbitrarily, stubbornly, without listening to experts, he has been gambling with people's lives," Abraham said. juh-mas/ach
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