MIROSLAV Kotian, an MP elected for the ruling Slovak National Party (SNS), has left the party to join another coalition member, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS).
The coalition does not perceive the transfer as a dramatic move, arguing that the number of coalition MPs has not changed. The SNS now has 19 MPs while the HZDS total rises from 15 to 16. Together, the coalition still has 85 MPs.
According to the SNS’s Rafael Rafaj, Kotian left because of his planned recall from the post as head of the regional party organization in Trenčín following problems with SNS candidate lists for the upcoming municipal elections.
HZDS leader Vladimír Mečiar says the situation was not provoked by HZDS and that he hopes the coalition partner SNS will not blame his party for the transfer.
PM Robert Fico considers the transfer to be an internal matter of the SNS and HZDS and does not plan changes in the agreed distribution of posts within the coalition.
Political analyst Grigorij Mesežnikov of the Institute for Public Affairs think tank says, however, that the affair will have impact on the relations between SNS and HZDS.
“We know that the relations between these two parties are bad and they will be even worse,” Mesežnikov told Sme daily.
