Slovak HZDS party says to stay in govt coalition

...avert a break-up of the governing pact after a row with Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Fico sacked Agriculture Minister Miroslav Jurena, a senior member of the centre-left Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), on Friday over a scandal involving land deals in which the state may have lost tens of millions of dollars.

HZDS chief Vladimir Meciar lashed back on Friday, saying the three party coalition would not last until the 2010 election.

The coalition crisis came at a crucial time in the central European EU member country's drive to join the euro currency zone in 2009.

The HZDS was holding a special congress in the northern Slovak town of Ruzomberok on Saturday, where Meciar said a final decision on leaving the government would be made, but the party's executive body did not endorse such a move at a meeting late on Friday.

"The Republic Council agreed that HZDS would stay in the governing coalition," General Secretary, Zdenka Kramplova, told TA3 television.

Meciar, who traditionally has a stronger grip over congress representatives from the regions than over executive structures, did not comment on Saturday on his party's future.

A break-up of the centre-left coalition would strip Fico of a parliamentary majority and could lead to a cabinet fall, but that would not automatically lead to an early election.

The dispute erupted after a land administration agency, supervised by the farm minister, approved deals to return land confiscated during the communist era that ended in 1989.

Local media reported a company close to the HZDS then acquired the land for a fraction of its market value. Fico called the land transfers scandalous, but Jurena has denied any wrongdoing.

The coalition row broke out just days before parliament was due to start debating the 2008 state budget. Its approval would need the consent of all ruling parties. (Reporting by Peter Laca)

Keywords: SLOVAKIA COALITION/

[Reuters/Finance.cz]