LEFTIST parties are pledging to unite before the next parliamentary elections.
The Slovak daily SME wrote that the leaders of the parliamentary opposition party Smer, and the non-parliamentary parties the Democratic Left Party, the Social Democratic Alternative, the Social Democratic Party of Slovakia, and the Left Bloc party have announced a plan to join before the 2006 elections so that "not a single left-wing vote is lost".
The exact form of the cooperation, however, still remains unclear. While Robert Fico, the leader of Smer, said that the parties should run as a single centre-left party, the chairmen of the other parties said the theme has to be discussed.
Compiled by Martina Pisárová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.