(Bloomberg) -- Slovakia’s minority government moved closer to collapse on Thursday as a former member of the ruling coalition submitted a motion to hold a vote of no confidence that could trigger snap elections.

The SaS party said it’s seeking to hold the ballot on Eduard Heger’s minority government, whose fate may now depend on several independent lawmakers, in the next few days because of what it calls chaotic decision-making, fiscally irresponsible policy and questionable results in the fight against corruption. 

“This government has lost its reason for existence,” Richard Sulik, the SaS party leader, told reporters in parliament. “This government is harming Slovakia.”

In the 150-member assembly, 76 votes are required to dismiss a government, while the coalition currently can only count on the support of 70 deputies.

If parliament dismisses the government, three scenarios are possible: parties may try to form a new ruling coalition, President Zuzana Caputova could appoint a caretaker government, or early elections might be held. 

The parliamentary speaker has to convene an extraordinary session within seven days after the no-confidence motion’s submission.

The prime minister himself was defiant in the face of the proposal, saying he believed democratic lawmakers wouldn’t vote against the government. 

“I can’t imagine how they could look at themselves in the mirror afterward,” Heger said in parliament on Thursday.

Early elections may favor the leftist opposition Hlas and Smer parties, which lead opinion polls. The leader of the latter party and former three-time prime minister, Robert Fico, has intensified his criticism of the European Union’s stance toward Russia, while also signaling understanding for Hungary’s Viktor Orban.

Caputova lashed out at the government earlier this week and said its way of ruling could become a risk for democracy.

“This government turns crises into a drama,” she said on Tuesday. “If it cannot reverse the way it rules, it will be better to let people choose its representatives anew.”

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