New Slovak government takes office amid coronavirus fight

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova appointed a new centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Igor Matovic on Saturday, after a February election swept anti-graft parties to power.

Matovic and his team were sworn in at a ceremony with participants wearing facial masks as a precaution against coronavirus. Slovakia has reported 137 cases of it this month and no deaths.

The government handover comes as the central European country of 5.5 million people battles the coronavirus outbreak that has put Europe on lockdown, pressuring Matovic's four-party coalition to agree a cabinet quickly.

The government replaced a centre-left Smer party-led administration that has ruled the country through a period of economic growth since 2012, and for 12 of the last 14 years.

Smer's popularity has slipped since the 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee led to massive street protests against alleged corruption that are still reverberating.

"Bearing in mind our responsibility and the burden we received, that is the coronavirus pandemic, we have signed a deal so that we could make good on our promise to make Slovakia a country that all honest people could be proud of," Matovic said after the parties signed their coalition deal.

Matovic, 46, and his OLANO party, known for publicity stunts to shine a light on alleged graft, won a quarter of the vote in the Feb. 29 election.

OLANO will lead with three other parties: Sme Rodina (We are Family), a socially conservative and eurosceptic party; SaS (Freedom and Solidarity), an economically liberal party; and Za Ludi (For the People), a mildly conservative party led by former president Andrej Kiska.