(source: Pavol Funtál / SME)
Vladimír Palko, František Mikloško, Pavol Minárik and Rudolf Bauer announced on February 21 (below) that they were leaving the opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) because they had lost faith in the party’s leadership, especially KDH chairman Pavol Hrušovský. Political analyst Grigorij Mesežnikov said that their departure could lead to more defections.
The defectors said that “a spirit of pragmatism and opportunism has overtaken the KDH, including its leading representatives”. They singled out Hrušovský and his deputies Martin Fronc, Mária Sabolová and Július Brocka as promoters of this line, and said that in the past they had proven willing to abandon principle in order to return to power.
Mikloško criticised Hrušovský for his inability to make decisions. Minárik said that the KDH chairman had failed as a leader, while Palko said that the group doesn’t intend to join any existing political party, but instead plans to come up with “a real Christian-democratic alternative to the KDH”. The four MPs say they won’t give up their parliamentary mandates, as according to Palko, they are the ones who have continued to pursue genuine KDH policies dating back to the 1990’s. The KDH has been racked by internal disputes since it went into opposition following the last general election in 2006.
