Slovak PM set to sack minister, raise govt tensions

...further escalate tensions inside the fractious ruling coalition.

Fico told one of his two junior partners, the centre-left Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), that HZDS minister Miroslav Jurena had to go after land deals in his department cost the state tens of millions of dollars.

HZDS leadership agreed at a meeting late on Thursday to defy Fico, who had set a Friday deadline for Jurena to leave voluntarily or be dismissed.

Fico is scheduled to meet President Ivan Gasparovic at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) to formally request Jurena's dismissal.

Deputy HZDS Chairman, Milan Urbani said he expected his party to stay in the ruling coalition despite its most serious crisis since its formation after the 2006 election.

"The coalition will hold," Urbani was quoted by the daily Pravda on Friday as saying.

HZDS, led by the former autocratic Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, will hold an extraordinary national congress on Saturday to decide whether to stay in the ruling coalition, which also includes the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS).

HZDS' departure from the coalition would strip Fico of a parliamentary majority and could weaken financial discipline at a crucial time in his drive to adopt the euro currency in 2009.

The coalition row erupted just a few days before the assembly was to start debating the 2008 state budget, whose approval will need consent of all ruling parties.

HZDS General Secretary, Zdenka Kramplova said the party would support the budget regardless the outcome of the row.

HZDS departure could lead to a government collapse if it teamed up with the opposition in a no-confidence vote, but even that would not automatically lead to an early election as parties may try to form a new cabinet. (Reporting by Peter Laca; editing by Alan Crosby)

Keywords: SLOVAKIA COALITION/

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]