The Cabinet of Eduard Heger was the 12th government of Slovakia, led by Prime Minister Eduard Heger.
It was originally a four-party majority coalition government composed of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OýaNO), We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), and For the People. Following a coalition crisis in summer of 2022, SaS left the government, which resulted in a minority government.
The Cabinet was appointed by the President of Slovakia Zuzana ÃÂaputová on 1 April 2021 and was approved by the National Council on 4 May 2021. It was formed after the previous Prime Minister Igor Matoviàand his government had resigned, ending a month-long coalition crisis which started because of a controversial Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine purchase by MatoviÃÂ. It was essentially a reshuffle during which Matoviàchanged positions with his party subordinate Heger, who was previously the Minister of Finance. Significant changes included the appointment of VladimÃÂr Lengvarský as Minister of Health and President ÃÂaputová rejecting the initial We Are Family nominee for Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family Jozef Hlinka, which resulted in the reappointment of Milan Krajniak.
The Cabinet lost a no-confidence vote on 15 December 2022 and ruled until it was succeeded by a caretaker government composed of non-party experts led by ýudovÃÂt ÃÂdor on 15 May 2023.
From the appointment until 5 September 2022 the following parties formed the government:
After the SaS left the government the governing parties were the following:
In the end of governing parties were the following:
Following the overriding of her veto of the "pro-family package" bill, President Zuzana ÃÂaputová asked the Supreme Court to examine the bill's compliance with the law and to render it ineffective, giving reasons she had previously articulated. The Supreme Court later confirmed that parts of the bill were, in fact, unlawful, and that the use of the shortened legislative process was not warranted.
The main reason for the SaS leaving the coalition, after giving an ultimatum, were the actions of Igor Matoviàas Minister of Finance. They cited MatoviÃÂ's breaking of the President's veto of the "pro-family package" with the help of MPs from the far-right, Neo-Nazi People's Party Our Slovakia (ýSNS) party (it was unacceptable for SaS that the government be aided by these far-right MPs when passing laws). SaS stated that since Heger failed to intervene and solve these issues, they decided to take this step.
OýaNO MP and chair of the parliamentary defense committee Juraj Krúpa announced his departure from OýaNO and joined the SaS parliamentary caucus. He also became the team leader for defense within SaS. Krúpa was the only OýaNO MP who did not vote for the "pro-family package" bill. On 11 August, OýaNO announced that the party leadership, along with their parliamentary caucus, decided that Matoviàwould remain Minister of Finance, in spite of SaS's ultimatum.
Three official meetings of the former coalition leaders from all four parties took place in the government's Hotel Bôrik. SaS consistently refused to retract its ultimatum, but Richard SulÃÂk clarified that if OýaNO suggested he step down as a price for MatoviÃÂ's resignation, he would be willing to do so. On 31 August, the last day of the ultimatum, OýaNO announced that Matoviàcould resign if SaS agreed to ten proposals by OýaNO. These included various policies which SaS disagreed with long-term, such as tax raises, support for some form of the "pro-family package", and a proposal that SaS ministers or MPs would not be able to propose new laws requiring public spending without proposing the resources which should be used to cover those new expenses.
However, the ten-point proposal by OýaNO was rejected by SaS, and SulÃÂk announced that he had already made the president aware of his resignation as Minister of Economy earlier that day. SaS further stated that Matoviàhad until 5 September to resign or else the resignation of the remaining three ministers from SaS would follow.
In September, the parliamentary caucus of We Are Family was joined by three independent MPs, among them a former ýSNS MP Jozef à  imko.
Since OýaNO decided that Igor Matoviàwould remain, KorÃÂok, KolÃÂková, and Gröhling announced their resignations on 5 September, and President Zuzana ÃÂaputová accepted them on 13 September. She appointed cross-party nominees Rastislav KáÃÂer as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viliam Karas as Minister of Justice, and Karel Hirman as Minister of Economy. PM Heger was appointed interim Minister of Education until the appointment of Ján Horecký on 4 October.
After the government lost its majority, SaS, now an opposition party, initiated a motion of no-confidence in MatoviÃÂ. He spoke in his own defence and attacked the media in his speech. In response, an open letter condemning these attacks was issued by the representatives of the most prominent Slovak media outlets. Several international press organizations also condemned the attacks.
Following the vote, SaS pointed out that Matoviàwas not removed only because of the three opposition MPs (who ran for ýSNS) did not vote in favor of the motion, even though previously these MPs consistently voted in favor of no-confidence motions concerning ministers of Heger and MatoviÃÂ's cabinets.
After Martin Klus left the SaS parliamentary caucus, OýANO parliamentary caucus chairman Michal à  ipoà ¡ postponed an gremium meeting between the party members. Matoviàwent to the Presidential Palace, signed his resignation and handed it to the President's Chief of Staff who then passed it onto his assistant in order to make a copy. When the assistant returned the original and the copy of the resignation to the Chief of Staff, Matoviàtook both documents from his hands, said he changed his mind, and left.
Following the vote of no-confidence, President ÃÂaputová formally dismissed the Cabinet of Eduard Heger, and appointed it as interim government with restricted powers. Ten OýANO MPs from the Civic and Democratic Platform who were advocating for a cabinet reshuffle left the OýANO parliamentary caucus, reasoning they no longer had impact on the decisions of OýANO. On 22 December, the parliament passed the 2023 budget with a deficit of â¬8 billion. SaS supported the budget after several of its proposals were worked in following negotiations with Prime Minister Heger. These included expenditure limits, cancellation of concession fees to fund the state TV and radio as well as a lowered 10% tax on hospitality and sports venues services.
After Matoviàresigned as Minister of Finance, President ÃÂaputová removed him from the office and appointed Heger as Interim Minister of Finance on 23 December. Upon being removed from the office, Matoviàshared multiple posts using his Facebook profile centered around LGBT issues to attack the Slovak mainstream news media. Heger criticised MatoviÃÂ, and both admitted that the departures of Heger and Minister of Defence Jaroslav Naàfrom OýANO were likely in the close future.
On 9 January 2023, Eduard Heger announced that he would attempt to form a new government supported by a parliamentary majority. Heger later announced his attempts to form a new majority ended. A parliamentary majority voted for an early election that occurred on 30 September 2023.
Heger announced his departure from OýANO on 6 March 2023, stating his different political views. On 5 May, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rastislav KáÃÂer informed the President of his request that his appointment be revoked. On 1 May, KáÃÂer later clarified that he left Democrats with the intention not to remain in politics.
On 15 May 2023, President ÃÂaputová announced that she would appoint a caretaker government that would rule until a new cabinet is formed following the early election on 30 September 2023, consisting of non-party experts led by ýudovÃÂt ÃÂdor.