Iveta Radičová won the top spot on the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) party’s slate for the parliamentary elections in June after winning the party’s primary, SDKU representatives announced at a press briefing on Sunday, February 28, the TASR newswire wrote.
Radičová received 2,669 votes to her opponent’s (Ivan Mikloš) 1,666. “I won't lie - there were predictions that I would fare slightly better than Ivan Mikloš. I thank him for a fair contest and his promise of teamwork,” Radičová told TASR, adding that she didn't expect to gain such a big margin of victory in Banská Bystrica region.
When asked about the premiership, to which she could aspire as slate leader, Radičová replied that every political party hopes to achieve as good an election result as possible and form the next government. Radičová said she does not think that having a woman lead the election campaign will make much of a difference.
Mikloš admitted that he expected to be defeated, albeit not by such a big margin. “We’ll, we move on. We stand as a team, and that’s the most important thing,” he said, adding that, as the more experienced politician of the two, he will offer Radičová a helping hand in the political discussions to come.
SDKÚ chairman Mikuláš Dzurinda, who took his name off the slate in the wake of the party's funding scandal, triggered the contest between Radičová and Mikloš and said he respects the results of the primaries, TASR wrote. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
