The former first vice-chair of the Slovak National Party (SNS) Anna Belousovová was expelled from the party on Wednesday, February 2, with all 14 members of the SNS presidium backing the move, vice-chairs Andrej Danko, Ján Ikrenyi and Rafael Rafaj told the TASR newswire. “The presidium also called on Anna Belousovová to give up her MP’s seat,” said Danko.
Belousovová told TASR that she wouldn’t comment on her ouster for now. According to Rafaj, the SNS had a legal analysis drawn up that concluded that the SNS parliamentary caucus shouldn’t necessarily be disbanded for having too few members should fellow SNS MP Rudolf Pučík, regarded as an ally of Belousovová, leave the caucus of his own accord, thereby reducing the number of SNS MPs to seven. Eight deputies are normally required in order to form a parliamentary caucus.
SNS leader Ján Slota wasn’t present when the decision was announced; party spokesperson Jana Benková claimed that he was still chairing an ongoing session of the SNS presidium. However, his backing for the move was clear from the unanimous vote in support of Belousovová’s ouster.
“The SNS presidium addressed the Anna Belousovová case at the behest of the SNS regional council in Žilina, and has adopted a unified stance that it’s taking disciplinary action against her, ejecting her from the party for damaging the name and interests of the SNS,” said Danko. “The presidium concluded that Anna Belousovová was unable to cope with her unfulfilled desire for power in the SNS. The presidium also concluded that by her media assaults against the SNS and its representatives she has inflicted more harm on the party than all the media combined,” he added.
Belousovová ran for the post of SNS chair in September 2010 as the main rival to Slota, following a poor showing by the party in the 2010 general election, at which it came close to losing all its seats in parliament. In her leadership campaign she criticised the scandals that had dogged the SNS throughout its time in government between 2006 and 2010. The SNS congress did not elect her, and instead stripped her of her vice-chair’s position. She has since lost all her other posts in the party, and was also deleted from the list of candidates for the local elections in November 2010.
Belousovová has had a troubled relationship with Slota over many years. The party entered the 2002 general election divided between groups led the two, and failed to get into parliament as a result.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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