Opposition Christian Democratic party chairman Pavol Hrušovský has acknowledged that a leadership power struggle is underway in the KDH, not a clash of opinions or programs.
"There is no danger of a rift. Most of the members support the properly elected leadership of the KDH," he said after a December 9 meeting of senior KDH officials in Modra, western Slovakia, to evaluate the party's gains in local elections held last week.
Hrušovský said that five former members of the KDH presidium - Vladimír Palko, Daniel Lipšic, Pavol Minárik, František Mikloško, and Rudolf Bauer - have a different opinion of what the party's policy should be. "A power struggle for the KDH has started," he said for the SITA news wire.
However, Ján Čarnogurský, the former chairman of the KDH and now a member of its presidium, disagreed with Hrušovský's evaluation.
former Interior Minister Vladimír Palko, who resigned as deputy party chairman after elections in June, told journalists after the meeting that the KDH council was divided. While many members are critical of Prime Minister Robert Fico, they still have misgivings about the opposition of the rebel group to joining the government with the Smer party.
