The MPs’ club of the opposition SDKÚ-DS party is weaker as of April 7.
Martin Kuruc, whom the party court expelled along with 11 other party mmembers because they signed an initiative calling for a change inside the SDKÚ-DS, is leaving. Head of the SDKÚ-DS parliamentary club Stanislav Janis told the SITA newswire that it was Kuruc’s free decision, and that it had been accepted. Kuruc’s departure brings the number of SDKÚ-DS MPs to 30 in the 150-seat parliament.
Kuruc is the first MP to quit the party since the 2006 elections. The outgoing MP has kept it secret how he will vote on the Lisbon Treaty, which the opposition is willing to support only if the coalition approves a democratic Press Code. Kuruc has said he wants to see what amending proposals are incorporated into the current Press Code.
He says that there are more critics of Mikuláš Dzurinda's policy in parliament but they hide their opinions, as they are concerned about their political future. They simply fear that the party court would expel them.
Kuruc announced that he would join the six other independent deputies in parliament; five are KDH renegades and Tibor Mikuš quit the coalition ĽS-HZDS. However, Juraj Liška, who launched the initiative for changes in the SDKÚ-DS leadership, remains in the MPs'club. He said he would not follow Kuruc. According to him, Kuruc is quitting because he was expelled from the party, while Liška remains deputy chairman. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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