The Slovak Communist Party’s (KSS) presidential candidate Milan Sidor said at a press conference on March 11 in Bratislava that he is displeased that the private media is violating what he called ‘the purity’ of the presidential campaign, according to the TASR newswire.
Sidor criticised the daily Sme in particular for not publishing his replies in its print version of mini-interviews it held with the presidential candidates – only putting them in the on-line version. He said he bought the papers in the morning only to find that an answer on which he had been working for two days was missing. He noted that KSS voters don’t usually use the Internet, meaning that he had been “cut off”.
The daily’s deputy editor-in-chief Roman Krpelan responded that “given the space available in the printed version of Sme daily, we decided, when launching this section, to publish the answers of five candidates, prioritised on their voter support in public opinion surveys.”
Sidor also expressed his hope that he won't remain at the back of the pack, but will gain support in a properly run presidential campaign, the TASR wrote. He doesn’t want to impress the public with billboards, as he considers them to be “idiotic”. He would rather attract potential voters with posters featuring his slogans “Work to the people, wisdom to politicians and dignity to Slovakia” and “That's right, folks, I’m serious about the revival of the left wing in Slovakia”.
Sidor also criticised the fact that the official campaign lasts only 15 days, claiming that a realistic period would be around four months. He pointed to one-year campaigns in the US and six-month ones in France as examples.
“I think that we aren’t so poor that we can’t tell people of our intentions and provide information to them without stress,” he argued. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
