Pavol Frešo, an MP from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) and president of the Bratislava Region self-government resigned from the party’s slate for the parliamentary elections on March 8 because of an incident of voting fraud in the party’s primary election. Frešo, who had finished No. 7 on the list, drew political responsibility for the manipulation of two votes in the Staré Mesto (Old Town) part of Bratislava, where he is the chairman of the local party association, the TASR newswire reported.
SDKÚ chair Mikuláš Dzurinda reported that two signatures in Staré Mesto had been forged in the primary elections on February 27; therefore the voting results in this borough were annulled, which resulted in a minor correction in the final SDKÚ slate.
SDKÚ vice-chair Lucia Žitňanská praised Frešo for the gesture, adding that he certainly wasn’t involved in the fraud but drew political responsibility for it. The move will allow him to focus more on his duties as Bratislava Region president, she added.
The SDKÚ slate will be led by party vice-chair Iveta Radičová, who is followed by other two vice-chairs Ivan Mikloš and Lucia Žitňanská, then parliamentary vice chairman Milan Hort, economist Eugen Jurzyca, MP Viliam Novotný, former defence minister Martin Fedor, SDKÚ parliamentary caucus leader Stanislav Janiš, SDKÚ regional head in Žilina Ivan Chaban and SDKÚ central committee chairman Jozef Mikuš. 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.
