Vladimír Mečiar, head of the opposition HZDS party, has still not responded to a growing crisis in the HZDS sparked by the suggestion of a senior party member that a new political entity could be founded and HZDS ranks reduced.
Since HZDS vice-chair Vojtech Tkáč made the suggestion last week, other HZDS members have cautiously supported him, while political analysts have speculated that the emergence of a new parliamentary caucus from the ruins of the HZDS could radically change the political equation that produced the current government.
While many Western diplomats have been frank in their rejection of the autocratic Mečiar, it is expected that defectors from the HZDS could receive gentler treatment from liberal critics both at home and abroad.
Compiled by Tom Nicholson from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
