“IT’S useless asking where the door (dvere) is shut,” former justice minister Lucia Žitňanská said when explaining why she didn’t even consider joining the new right-wing party announced by Radoslav Procházka and chose to join Most–Híd instead. But the quote could serve to illustrate the state of the political right in general.
Procházka is launching another party because he couldn’t get along with his colleagues in the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), and he is also at odds with Daniel Lipšic, who left the KDH just months before Procházka, to start his own NOVA party. Žitňanská left the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) after disagreements with party boss Pavel Frešo. She too, has a strained relationship with Lipšic.
Everyone dislikes Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) chairman Richard Sulík, who voted against the cabinet of Iveta Radičová in 2011, which led to the 2012 elections. The People’s Platform, comprised of the SDKÚ, the KDH and Most–Híd, collapsed after the presidential vote, which ended in disaster for their candidate, Pavol Hrušovský. And the list could go on and on.
If there is one lesson to be learned from the presidential elections, it’s that Smer can be beaten. All you need is a credible alternative and a united opposition front. Sadly, there is little reason to hope that the multitude of dwarf parties that currently occupy the right get this point. And until they do, the door to power will remain wide open for Smer.
