Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) leader Mikuláš Dzurinda announced at a press conference on Monday, March 12, that he would not run for the post of chairman at the party's next congress. Dzurinda said that he would support party vice-chair Lucia Žitňanská's candidacy for the post, the TASR newswire reported.
The party suffered a significant decline in support in the general election on March 10. It received only 6.1 percent, down from more than 15 percent in the June 2010 election. Dzurinda himself received only around one quarter of the preferential votes Žitňanská attracted.
Dzurinda, who has led the party since its foundation in 2000, and served as prime minister between 1998 and 2006, said he would remain an MP and intended to serve as an ordinary member of the parliamentary foreign policy committee.
Meanwhile, the future of another SDKÚ vice-chair, outgoing Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš, remained unclear on Monday, March 12, as he was reported to be in Brussels. "I'm not able to speak on his behalf," Dzurinda said.
Source: 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.
