UPDATE 1-Slovak PM seeks minister sacking, tests coalition

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By Peter Laca

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico asked the president on Friday to dismiss his farm minister, deepening a row that may break the ruling coalition.

Fico wants minister Miroslav Jurena of junior coalition partner, the centre-left Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), to go following allegations land deals overseen by his department cost the state tens of millions of dollars.

A break-up of the coalition would strip Fico of a parliamentary majority, destabilising his cabinet at a crucial time in his drive to adopt the euro currency in 2009.

President Ivan Gasparovic did not say when he would sack the minister. Under the constitution, he must heed Fico's request.

Fico said he wanted to keep the coalition together, but not under any circumstances.

"It is very bad if the HZDS ... is considering breaking a good welfare-oriented coalition only because of scandalous land transfers," Fico told reporters after meeting Gasparovic. "I care very much about this coalition but not at any cost."

He declined to comment on further possible developments.

HZDS, led by former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, will hold an extraordinary national congress on Saturday to decide whether to stay in the coalition with Fico's leftist Smer and the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS).

Deputy HZDS Chairman Milan Urbani said he saw his party staying in the coalition, formed after the 2006 election.

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

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.

Most analysts expect Fico to survive, either with the HZDS, or in a minority.

The coalition row erupted just a few days before the parliament was to start debating the 2008 state budget. Its 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.

The crown currency fell to 5-week lows on Friday of 33.750 to the euro but later firmed to Thursday's closing levels of 33.55. Traders said investors were watching political developments but the reason for the drop was negative sentiment toward all currencies in central Europe.

The dispute centres on a land administration agency, supervised by Jurena, whose acting boss 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. Jurena has denied any wrongdoing. (Reporting by Peter Laca; editing by Alan Crosby and Janet McBride)

Keywords: SLOVAKIA COALITION/

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]