Nová Väčšina, or New Majority, a party set up by former Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) vice-chairman and current independent MP Daniel Lipšic this summer was formally registered as a political party at the Interior Ministry on Thursday, October 25, the TASR newswire reported. The new party's inaugural congress, at which the party's statutes, bodies and representatives should be approved, is due to take place in the second half of November.
"We're ready for co-operation and the integration of centre-right voters. We believe that they need someone to protect their interests against the high-handedness of the strong and unscrupulous. We're ready to be a decent contender against the [governing] Smer party," Lipšic said. He went on to say that New Majority has registered over 900 supporters in all regions of Slovakia, and that its greatest level of support was in Prešov, Košice and Žilina Regions. "But it [support] is fairly decent in Bratislava and Nitra as well," he added. Lipšic pinpointed success in next year's regional elections as the party's first goal. New Majority co-founder and fellow former KDH MP Jana Žitňanská thanked supporters who had collected over 13,000 valid signatures in order to register the party.
Lipšic also responded to an initiative by controversial entrepreneur Eleonóra (Nora) Mojsejová who recently changed the name of her extra-parliamentary Free Speech Party to New Majority. "We had our name protected by trademark, so right after we learnt about this [Mojsejová's move] we filed for a preliminary court injunction to forbid any other entity from using the 'New Majority' name," said Lipšic, a former interior minister (2002-06) and justice minister (2010-12).
The Sme daily wrote in its Friday issue that Mojsejová's application to rename her party contained formal failings and that the Interior Ministry consequently refused to approve it.
Sources: TASR, Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
