MORE than half of Slovakia's citizens are not in favour of the proposed act recognising Andrej Hlinka for his role in establishing Slovak statehood, a recent public opinion poll has found.
The survey, conducted by the Focus agency on behalf of the Institute for Public Affairs, found that 54 percent of Slovaks definitely wouldn't support the act, or would prefer not to support it, the TASR newswire wrote.
Another 25 percent of respondents would support or would prefer to support the act, while 21 percent didn't know.
Those most likely to agree with the act are supporters of the Slovak National Party (SNS), with 43 percent; the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), 39 percent; and the Christian Democrat Movement (KDH), 32 percent.
Those least likely to agree with the act are supporters of the ethnic-Hungarian SMK party, with four percent; followed by supporters of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), 21 percent, and Smer, 29 percent.
Hlinka was a priest and the founder of the Slovak People's Party, which pushed for more autonomy for Slovakia within the Czechoslovak state between the world wars.
After he died in 1938, the party was taken over by Jozef Tiso, another priest who helped Germany turn Slovakia into a Nazi puppet state under his leadership.
Hlinka was the fourth-most admired Slovak historical figure identified by the survey - and the third-most disliked.
