Head of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) Vladimír Mečiar and Vladimír Randa, chief of the Party of Businessmen and Entrepreneurs (SPZ), signed an agreement on political cooperation on October 11. The move is surprising because the SPZ ran in last fall's elections in a coalition with the liberal Democratic Party (DS). The coalition failed to get the five percent necessary to qualify for parliament. The DU's Ján Budaj said he considers the agreement to be in Randa's "personal interests."
