Former interior minister Daniel Lipšic, a current member of parliament, as well as MP Jana Žitňanská told a press conference held on May 27 that they are leaving the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), stating their main reason is a lack of vision among Slovakia’s rightist parties, the TASR newswire reported.
“Tomorrow, I’m abandoning my post as KDH party deputy chair and I’m leaving KDH as a member,” stated Lipšic, as quoted by TASR.
He also expressed his regrets about numerous scandals involving parties of the right, which he described as a sinking ship.
Neither Lipšic nor Žitňanská intend to leave politics, saying that they will be trying to “gain support within the upcoming weeks and months.
“We will be approaching people from various parties and also outside the parties and, if our vision of a country where the state and politicians protect decent people, not oligarchs, succeeds, we will try to rally support,” Lipšic told the press conference.
Žitňanská added that the two will do all they can to ensure that the right in Slovakia is not only a “world of pushiness and obtuseness”, conceding that she had been thinking about leaving politics for good as she doubted whether she could see her political visions materialise as a member of KDH.
Lipšic openly said that the right side of the political spectrum in Slovakia is in ruins.
“We do not have a vision,” he said, as quoted by TASR. “Ten years ago, it was the right that was bringing topics and the left only reacting to them – albeit two levels below us. It is vice versa today.”
He also recalled scandals involving the right parties, saying that “voters will not again vote for a lesser evil only because it is lesser” Lipšic said, as reported by TASR, adding that they want to give their vote to somebody who gives them a vision, hope and a dream.
Commenting on KDH, Lipšic described his staying in the party as one that would be suffering for both sides.
“I felt that this [my stay in KDH] would only bring quarrels, tensions and skirmishes,” he said. “People have had enough of these ... but I personally wish KDH the best.”
Two political scientists said they considered the departure of Lipšic and Žitňanská as widely expected since when former prime minister Iveta Radičová let it slip recently that Lipšic was planning to establish a new party, it was no longer possible for him to aspire to be a leader in the KDH.
“If we were to view this step of his to be a well-thought procedure of establishing a new party, we would have to say that this step was worse than amateurish in the big leagues of Slovak politics, which is unacceptable for a politician who has been around for years,” stated political scientist Michal Horský to TASR.
Ján Baránek from Polis polling agency said he is concerned that Lipšic provided a vision but did not offer a platform.
“This is a mistake, because those voters who were waiting for something like this needed to have something tangible,” he stated, as quoted by TASR, likening Lipšic’s hesitation to a fear compelling him to jump into the river to show that he can swim.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
