The Central Council of the opposition party SDKÚ-DS called on all party members and sympathisers to do everything possible to mobilise voters to support the joint opposition presidential candidate Iveta Radičová (SDKÚ-DS) in the presidential election on March 21, 2009, the TASR newswire wrote.
“We fully support the efforts of Iveta Radičová to face the incumbent Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič in debate. The citizens have the right to see a true competition of opinions and ideas on the functions of the presidency in a direct confrontation,” reads the Council’s declaration. The Council called on the political parties to respect fair competition without personal vilification so that the election doesn't become a centre of pointless personal invectives.
SDKÚ chairman Mikuláš Dzurinda pointed out that Slovakia needed an independent president with a clear vision who was able to see the problems and find their solutions.
“Currently, Slovakia doesn’t have an independent president ... because he is in the service of the strongest political party (Smer-SD). He (Gašparovič) took a very irresponsible stance to addressing the citizens in his State of the Republic report. His statements were a big disappointment for us,” concluded Dzurinda. 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.
