Hi. Welcome to the blog for my IB English B class at Jur Hronec High School in Bratislava, Slovakia. Below you will find links to other websites and discussion questions. My students are required to comment on one of these postings every month and also respond to each other's comments. Feel free to add your two bits, but be aware that all comments are monitored before being posted.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Reviewing Radicova
What do you think is important about Radicova and how she will be remembered? Had she the chance to accomplish anything important? Was she (and the coalition she headed) weak and unstable, or simply more democratic than the opposition? What could she have done differently? Finally, you may feel that she is down but far from out. Is the Spectator jumping the gun in terms of looking back already?
First of all, Radicova’s government came to power in very difficult times. It was (and still is) time to make crucial decisions, changes and reforms. Their position was indeed unenviable. At first, Radicova and her government were very promising. Even though, there were four of them negotiating about the coalition, which is quite a few, they managed to agree surprisingly fast. It was apparent from the very first moment that the coalition of four would be hard to handle for Radicova. It contained parties with contrasting political views and beliefs. In the end, it really turned out to be the biggest obstacle to overcome, since it was the disagreement of the coalition on the euro bailout, which sank the government, including Radicova.
ReplyDeleteLet’s look at the positive side. Iveta Radicova will be always remembered as Slovakia’s first woman prime minister. Most importantly, her government brought transparency to public affairs. It is a 180 degrees switch compared to previous cabinet led by Robert Fico. As the article states, public institutions are required to publish all their contracts online. Moreover, the transparency issues were discussed publicly “under Radicova’s rule”, rather than being kept in between the coalition members. That is a huge step forward in my opinion, and I truly hope that no government in the future will change this attitude towards transparency. Additionally, I think Radicova’s government had rather positive impact on the economic situation in the country in these hard times. The spending cuts helped to slightly decrease the debt growth rate, while the transparency saved some money as well.
Personally, I am little bit disappointed about the reforms that were (not) made. Major reforms were unfinished or even absent in some departments. Here comes the point, where Radicova’s weakness is worth mentioning. In my opinion, she was unable to unify the members of the coalition when dealing with the essential points of programme statement, such as the euro bailout. Moreover, her public speaking manner was rather emotional than rational. That is why she seemed so unstable I think. I am of the opinion that the stronger backing within her own party would enhance her position and help to solve the issues they had within the coalition.
All in all, Iveta Radicova has been a kind of a prime minister Slovakia had not gotten before. Being very strict about transparency, but at the same time unable to bring stability to her own party and coalition. Therefore, she seemed bit weak and unstable in the eyes of the public.