OUTGOING Prime Minister Iveta Radičová told the SITA newswire she feels responsible for the fall of the government last October and made the only decision possible for her – to leave politics – saying she wants to return to her profession as a sociologist after the parliamentary elections.
Radičová will lead the government until President Ivan Gašparovič officially appoints a new prime minister and she then plans to return to academia. The media have reported that Radičová has accepted an offer to lecture at Oxford University in Great Britain.
She was not deterred from her decision to quit politics by a petition on Facebook signed by about 1,500 Slovaks and delivered by New Generation, the youth wing of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) on March 7 asking Radičová to remain in politics.
“Thank you for the trust but this is not the first petition; we have already had several petitions and thousands of letters at the Government Office,” Radičová stated, as quoted by SITA, adding that she still assumes responsibility for the current political situation and will leave active political life.
