A total of five ministers have resigned amidst the coalition crisis in the space of a few weeks.

Two ministers of the Slovak government have tendered their resignation within one hour. According to a report filed by TASR, Slovakia s state news agency, Education Minister Branislav Grohling and Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok announced their resignation on Wednesday.

They were both delegated by the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, a liberal member of the Slovakia s four-party coalition government.

Branislav Grohling announced his resignation at a government meeting on Wednesday. Ivan Korcok, who is currently in Brussels, signaled his intention to resign in a letter. Their decision may be related to the fact that former Economic Minister Richard Sulik, who is the head of SaS, also resigned on Monday. Sulik then said all the other ministers within the party would follow suit, should PM Igor Matovic fail to resign. Sulik said on Monday that if Matovic does not resign, the SaS party will leave the coalition.

With the resignation of the two politicians, a total of five ministers have stepped down during the coalition crisis. The coalition government s liberal parties initially called for the resignation of Marek Krajci (OLaNO, Ordinary People and Independent Personalities), who did step down on 12 March.

Following suit, Justice Minister Maria Kolikova (Za l udi, For the People) announced her departure on 23 March, noting that she is ready to return after a cabinet reshuffle.

Prime Minister Igor Matovic – who refused to speak to journalists before Wednesday s government meeting –  announced on Sunday that he is willing to resign as prime minister and take a different post in the government if the liberals deliver on their previous promises and their two ministers resign, and they also give up two parliamentary posts they hold. As another pre-requisite to his resignation, Mr Matovic said the ministerial posts within the coalition should be redistributed proportionately, according to last spring s parliamentary elections. Richard Sulik rejected the proposal on Monday. 

The Slovak government crisis erupted after it came to light that the country had purchased Sputnik V vaccines from Russia. 

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The current coalition government would retain its majority in parliament even if any of the three smaller governing parties were to quit, but if two parties were to leave, that would signal the end of the coalition s majority.

If the coalition crisis is not resolved by the end of next week, Slovakia could call snap elections, said House Speaker Boris Kollar, who is delegated by the centre-right We Are Family (Sme rodina), the coalition s fourth party.