BRATISLAVA, October 25, (WEBNOVINY) — Prime Minister and SDKU-DS Deputy Chairwoman Iveta Radicova will not run in early general elections on March 10 of next year. She officially announced her decision at a news conference after the Tuesday meeting of the SDKU-DS presidium. However she is not quitting the politics for now as she will keep her post in SDKU-DS until the party congress that has to take place within six months after the parliamentary elections.
She explained her decision saying she cannot offer to the people what she could when she sought to gain their confidence two years ago. “Merging the vote on the bailout fund with a confidence vote was not only the right thing to do but it was also the only solution. We have accomplished something but we could not stay the course. The Cabinet has lost a confidence vote in parliament. Can I strive again for the same thing? Can I say now that we will make it together this time? I do not think so. On that account I have decided not to run for a seat in parliament in March early election,” she officially announced at a news conference after the Tuesday meeting of the SDKU-DS presidium.
The presidium invited party members who would like to lead the strongest coalition party into elections to register for primaries. If nobody shows interest, the party leader will automatically become the No. 1 on the SDKU-DS slate. Thus, the decision of Iveta Radicova will in all probability mean that SDKU boss Mikulas Dzurinda will have no rival to compete with for the position of the election leader.
The proposal for the candidacy in primaries for the position of election leader can be submitted by the party presidium, the leadership of a regional organization or by at least 300 members of the party.
After the Cabinet of Iveta Radicova lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month, Radicova will remain at the helm of an interim Cabinet with significantly restricted competencies that will lead the country into early elections.
SDKU-DS Deputy Chairpersons Ivan Miklos and Lucia Zitnanska are not planning to run for the post of the party election leader in Slovakia’s early elections on March 10, 2012. The two ministers announced their decision at a news conference after Tuesday meeting of the SDKU-DS presidium. The party leader also noted that the SDKU-DS program outline should be unveiled by the person that will lead the party into the elections. He, therefore, refused to comment on post-election cooperation but emphasized that the general line that rejects a coalition with the party of Robert Fico, SMER-SD, is still true.
SITA