OPPOSITION party leaders agreed that they would join with select ruling parties to create a “big Slovak coalition” in time for the regional elections. The parties are joining together to undercut the political influence of the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), which is a part of the ruling coalition.
According to the Pravda daily, the leaders of Smer, Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, and the Slovak Communist Party confirmed that the new regional coalition would counterbalance the stronghold that the SMK has in the Trencin and Nitra regions.
The Smer chairman, Robert Fico, sounded a nationalist note, saying that because the SMK is supporting the interests of Hungarian nationals in southern Slovakia, it was legitimate for the “Slovak” parties to join together to oppose them.
Gyula Bardos from the SMK reacted to the plan by saying that it was “their matter”.
“The people who live in the given regions will determine what will be,” he said.
Bardos rejected the notion that the SMK is exclusively an ethnic-based party. “We have members and functionaries who do not have Hungarian roots,” he said.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
