The government’s austerity package makes it to parliament, though ministers have yet to reveal how austere they are planning to be in their respective departments. Another austerity package is on its wayThere will be less travelling, shopping and spending, said Prime Minister Robert Fico in his first public remark – in a Facebook video, naturally – more than a week after his finance minister had unveiled the government’s fiscal austerity plan for next year. On top of that, the coalition then abruptly curtailed discussion even further in order to accelerate the proposal, angering opposition MPs and prompting some of them to turn to the Constitutional Court. For Robert Fico and Smer, this is a new situation – even though he and his party have been in power for 14 of the past two decades. For most of that time, they benefited from a growing economy – but that growth has now all but evaporated.