UPDATE 2-Slovak govt withstands no-confidence vote

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By Martin Santa

Slovakia's ruling coalition united on Tuesday to defeat an opposition no-confidence motion to dismiss the parliament speaker, a vote that calmed tensions that had threatened to topple the government.

A break-up of the coalition would strip the centre-left cabinet of its parliamentary majority and could lead to its fall at a time when Slovakia is trying to beef up diplomatic and policy efforts to join the euro currency zone in 2009.

The coalition had been in turmoil since last week when leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico sacked Farm Minister Miroslav Jurena, a member of the centrist Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), over disputed land deals.

HZDS agreed at the weekend to stay in the coalition but stopped short of pledging full loyalty to Fico in the no-confidence vote on the speaker, Pavol Paska. Fico raised the stakes, saying the coalition would fall if Paska were dismissed.

But the opposition managed to get only 59 votes for Paska's dismissal, short of the 76 needed in the 150-seat assembly, suggesting no government MPs broke ranks in the secret vote.

Opposition leaders said they would mount a fresh attempt to dismiss Fico and the entire cabinet directly in a new no-confidence vote soon over the the controversial property transfers which had cost Jurena his post.

"(Fico's leftist party) Smer carries the greatest portion of political responsibility," news Web site www.sme.sk quoted opposition leader Mikulas Dzurinda as saying.

ROUGH PATH AHEAD BUT NO CRASH

Jurena supervised a land administration agency which signed deals to return land confiscated from Slovaks during the communist era that ended in 1989.

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 denied any wrongdoing.

Analysts said HZDS would seek revenge against Fico and relations in the coalition would remain turbulent.

But it will likely not pull the plug on the cabinet because its popularity has fallen below 10 percent in polls compared with Fico's steady support of over 40 percent.

"HZDS is headed towards this being its last election term," said Marius Kopcsay, a columnist at the daily Pravda, as the party may not clear the 5 percent hurdle to win seats in the next election.

"Does it want to unnecessarily shorten it, and by doing that lose all the benefits coming from sharing power?" he said.

The crown currency has largely ignored the coalition spat, even though it was the deepest rift since the three-party pact was established after an election last year. (Writing by Jan Lopatka and Peter Laca; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Keywords: SLOVAKIA COALITION/

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]