THE RULING SDKÚ party of Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda has put forward a shortlist of candidates for September 2002 elections that omits three current ministers and a deputy minister for the party, and drops another minister to 23rd position out of 150.
Health Minister Roman Kováč, Economy Minister Ľubomír Harach, and Culture Minister Milan Kňažko have all decided not to run again for election, as have former Transport Minister Gabriel Palacka and Deputy Finance Minister Viliam Vaškovič.
Dzurinda has said the changes have nothing to do with the political records of the ministers in question, but rather with the party's attempt to bring new faces into politics.
