Dear Editor,
Mr. Mečiar's greatest accomplishment - according to him - was the creation of the Slovak state. Nobody would argue that he is sincere about it. Many Slovaks shared his dream, but hardly a majority, as the results of the 1992 elections prior to the division of Czechoslovakia indicated. Mečiar's HZDS party gained less than 40% of the votes, and it is reasonable to assume that even among the voters who elected him, many did not have separation on their mind, and actually were misled by the party which did not have separation in its programme. Therefore, Mr. Mečiar did not have the mandate to divide the country.
An even more disturbing point is the technical aspect of the whole division process. I was surprised to see a short clip on an American evening news network, which I will never forget: Both Mečiar and Klaus walked out of the door from their meeting room and anounced that they decided to divide the country. So, here it is!
The fact that this decision was later approved by the Czechoslovak parliament doesn't make it right. The only body which had the right to take such a historic decision was the nation as a whole, and that by means of a referendum.
Therefore, Mr. Mečiar's sacred duty was to go back to Slovak people, explain the differences he had with the Czechs and ask them to vote in a referendum. Thus, in my humble opinion, the whole process was inappropriate and indeed, lacks legality.
As a matter of fact, it is and I am afraid, it will be for a long time a disturbing issue for all intelligent Czechs and Slovaks. This I can hear abroad as well as in Prague or Slovakia. The intelligent Czechs and Slovaks, who see farther ahead into the future, surely must see it.
Livius Timko
West Vancouver , B.C., Canada
