Saturday Sunday, March Friday, 11 March Thursday, 10 March Wednesday, 9 March Tuesday, 8 March

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1 Slovak news compiled from wire services, U.S. press, RFE/RL, and other sources University of Pittsburgh, PA Slovak Studies Program, 1417 CL MARTIN VOTRUBA S L O V A K N E W S Monday Sunday, 7-13 March 1994 Saturday Sunday, March President Calls for Reconciliation after Outmaneuvering Premier 1 Friday, 11 March Premier Mečiar and Cabinet Ousted by Parliament 2 Opposition Leader Čarnogurský Sees Cabinet Fall as No One s Victory 3 Ousted Premier Mečiar Says He ll Win Elections Again 4 Upset Mečiar Claims Czechs Considered Attack on Slovakia 5 Thursday, 10 March Government Minister Wants Slovak President Dismissed 5 Slovak Parliament Mulls No Confidence in Government 6 43% Slovaks Trust No Politician, Mečiar s Approval Sinks to 22% 7 Wednesday, 9 March President Kováč Blasts Premier Mečiar in Parliament 7 Opposition Calls for No-confidence in Premier Mečiar 8 Tuesday, 8 March Party Talks on New Elections Falter 9 New Slovak Ambassador Branislav Lichardus Arrives in US 9 Monday, 7 March Ruling HZDS Talks with Opposition SDĽ in Hopes to Stay in Power 9 Changing the Slovak Government, an American s Account 10 Saturday Sunday, March 1994 PRESIDENT CALLS FOR RECONCILIATION AFTER OUTMANEUVERING PREMIER Bratislava President Michal Kováč called for political reconciliation in sharply divided Slovakia on Saturday, a day after Parliament ousted the country s controversial

2 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 2 populist premier. Premier Vladimír Mečiar, with whom Kováč formerly was allied, lost a vote of confidence Friday after weeks of political paralysis. The country, which gained independence in the breakup of Czechoslovakia on 1 Jan. 1993, appears headed for early elections yet this year. We need civic, political, and national reconciliation like we need salt, 1 Kováč said in a TV interview to be broadcast later Saturday. Excerpts of it were carried by the Czech agency ČTK. Kováč said his first step will be to dissolve the government and ask Mečiar s Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, HZDS, to form a new government without Mečiar. Kováč said a broad coalition government may be the only possibility. The president, after months of growing estrangement from Mečiar, publicly broke with him several days ago. He charged in Parliament that Mečiar had sought to appoint a political ally to run Slovakia s privatization ministry in order to wring money out of the process for Mečiar s party. Another one-time Mečiar ally, former Vice Premier Roman Kováč, is considered the most likely candidate for the job. Shortly before the vote Friday, Mečiar said all HZDS members would leave the government and go into opposition. But the 51-year-old former boxer s 2 grip on the fragmented HZDS has been weakened by defections. Should HZDS rebels reject the offer, or fail to form a new government, the president would ask the opposition to do so, ČTK quoted the president as saying. Leaders of the former Communists, the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), were in session in Bratislava on Saturday. The party is the second-strongest after HZDS. Mečiar loyalists conferred in the eastern Slovak town of Spišská Nová Ves. Several hundred demonstrators in front of Presidential Palace voiced support to the outgoing premier Saturday morning, calling on the president to resign. (AP) Friday, 11 March 1994 PREMIER MEČIAR AND CABINET OUSTED BY PARLIAMENT After a stormy two-day session, on 11 March the Slovak Parliament removed Premier Vladimír Mečiar and his government in a vote of no-confidence, Slovak TV reported. Although a number of opposition members of parliament were not present, 78 out of the 150 MPs supported the ouster. Only two MPs voted against Mečiar s removal, while 56 1 This is a mistranslation of an idiom meaning we absolutely need M.V. 2 Frequent clichéd references and his own claim notwithstanding, no evidence of Vladimír Mečiar s apparent boxing history has come to light no record of his membership in a boxing club, no record of his participation in a boxing match, no recollection by a sparring partner surfaced in the media. Mečiar s official bio says he used to box as a boy. M.V.

3 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 3 members of Mečiar s Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and its coalition partner, the Slovak National Party (SNS) abstained from the vote. The vote of confidence came after President Michal Kováč criticized Mečiar and his government for inefficiency and corruption in a parliamentary address on 9 March. It is expected that the president will officially dismiss Mečiar on 14 March. Many observers predict that Roman Kováč, previously a close ally of Mečiar who was purged from HZDS only recently, is the likely successor of Mečiar as premier of the transitional government, which is expected to last only until new elections can be held. Once before, in April 1991, Mečiar was removed from his office as premier by the Presidium of the Slovak Parliament only to return to power after an election victory in June (RFE) OPPOSITION LEADER ČARNOGURSKÝ SEES CABINET FALL AS NO ONE S VICTORY Bratislava Slovak Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar and his government were ousted by Parliament in a no-confidence vote Friday. The country faced a probable transitional government with parliament likely to debate holding elections later in the year. Defections from Mečiar s Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and public rows with his rival, President Michal Kováč, had plunged the newborn state into a political crisis. Only a simple majority was required in the 150-seat house, but the vote was 78 in favor of the motion and two against, with 56 abstentions, including deputies from Mečiar s own party and its coalition partner, the Slovak National Party (SNS). Nobody is leaving this Parliament today as a winner. There is only one loser coming out, Vladimír Mečiar, said Ján Čarnogurský, chairman of the opposition Christian Democratic Party (KDH). Čarnogurský, a fierce opponent of Mečiar, is likely to play a leading role in shaping a new government. It is premature to say who will lead the transitional government, Čarnogurský said. It should be someone who is capable of running a transition for six months until new elections. When Parliament reconvenes Wednesday it will consider a proposal by the reform communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) to hold elections 30 September 1 October. Mečiar had been stung by public battles with the president and resignations of his own ministers and his support in Parliament had dropped to 56 members of parliament from 74 since general elections in June, A former boxer, 3 he was instrumental in pushing for the split of the Czechoslovak Federation into separate Czech and Slovak states at the 3 Frequent clichéd references and his own claim notwithstanding, no evidence of Vladimír Mečiar s apparent boxing history has come to light no record of his membership in a boxing club, no record of his participation in a boxing match, no recollection by a sparring partner surfaced in the media. Mečiar s official bio says he used to box as a boy. M.V.

4 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 4 end of 1992 after the fall of communism. Mečiar left the Parliament after the vote without comment but Finance Minister Július Tóth said: This is not the end of my life; it s just the beginning. (Reuters) OUSTED PREMIER MEČIAR SAYS HE LL WIN ELECTIONS AGAIN Bratislava Parliament toppled on Friday the government of Premier Vladimír Mečiar, whose nationalism helped inspire the breakup of Czechoslovakia and the creation of an independent Slovakia. In a vote of no-confidence, members of parliament approved 78-2 in a secret ballot to oust Mečiar, who has been widely accused of being authoritarian and confrontational. 70 MPs mostly from Mečiar s Movement For a Democratic Slovakia and its coalition partners abstained from voting on the motion, which needed a simple majority in the 150-seat legislature. Friday s vote followed an address to Parliament by Mečiar in which he urged President Michal Kováč, his one-time ally, to resign. Mečiar was responding to charges of corruption President Kováč leveled against him in a Parliament speech Wednesday. Mečiar reiterated his call for early elections in June to break the political paralysis gripping his government because of defections that cost it majority support in parliament. The vote ended months of political paralysis, and is likely to bring about national elections two years ahead of schedule. There is general agreement that early elections are needed to break the gridlock, but opposition parties want them in September or early November. Mečiar s opponents fear that anything earlier would be a big advantage for the premier, a proven campaigner with a strong following. Mečiar warned that if he did not get an election date in June, he would proceed with a national plebiscite on the issue. You all know I shall win the elections. You are opposing something you cannot even grasp, Mečiar said in an emotional speech laced with boasts and threats. He left the Parliament building without speaking to reporters. Since Mečiar s party won elections in June 1992, his standing has been eroded by defections of allies disillusioned with his efforts to concentrate power. The defections cost him his majority support in Parliament and left the government paralyzed at a time when it desperately needs to revive a moribund economy and bolster its image abroad. Under Slovakia s constitution, President Michal Kováč must dissolve the Cabinet and name a premier to form a new government. Many observers view opposition parties as too disorganized to come up with a credible successor government. Once a new Cabinet is formed, it must seek approval of the parliament within 30 days.

5 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 5 Mečiar s ardent nationalism helped inspire the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia in January 1993 into the Czech and Slovak republics. The larger, richer Czech Republic has forged ahead with revitalizing its economy. But political feuds since have kept Slovakia from attracting foreign investors and implementing reforms. (AP) UPSET MEČIAR CLAIMS CZECHS CONSIDERED ATTACK ON SLOVAKIA On the morning of 11 March, Mečiar presented a lengthy and emotional address to parliament, full of threats and personal slurs. Besides numerous attacks on the president and the opposition, he suggested that in late 1992, the General Staff of the Czechoslovak Army was preparing a military intervention in Slovakia, Slovak and Czech media reported over the weekend. Mečiar claimed that during a meeting shortly before the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, he had asked the former Chief of the General Staff, General Karel Pezl, to give him his word of honor that the military was not preparing operations against Slovakia. He then recalled that Pezl began sweating heavily and refused to answer. Mečiar added that thanks to Czech Premier Václav Klaus it was possible to resolve the situation politically within 24 hours. Klaus reacted by saying that the charge was so absurd that it does not merit a response, pointing out that he never discussed any such topic with Mečiar. Retired General Pezl said in an interview with ČTK on 11 March that when asked, he gave Mečiar his word of honor that the army was not preparing an intervention in Slovakia. (RFE) Thursday, 10 March 1944 GOVERNMENT MINISTER WANTS SLOVAK PRESIDENT DISMISSED The Slovak Parliament adjourned its session on 10 March without voting on a motion of no-confidence in Premier Vladimír Mečiar and his government, TASR reported. Despite pledges to do so, Mečiar failed to address the MPs, arguing that he was not yet prepared. During a heated debate that was accompanied by pro-mečiar demonstrations outside the building, Mečiar was defended by coalition MPs and attacked by the opposition. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Oľga Keltošová suggested that a constitutional provision be applied for dismissing President Michal Kováč, who strongly criticized Mečiar in a speech on 9 March.

6 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 6 The constitution allows the Parliament to dismiss the president for activities against Slovakia s sovereignty, territorial integrity or democratic system. The debate will continue on 11 March. (RFE) SLOVAK PARLIAMENT MULLS NO CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT The Slovak Parliament put the no-confidence vote at the top of the agenda after Slovak President Michal Kováč delivered a stinging attack against the government in an address to Parliament Wednesday. Opposition parties appear to have the necessary strength (at least 76 out of 150) to vote Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar and his Cabinet out of office but until now they have failed to act in a unified manner. However, instead of voting, parliament spent the day in acrimonious debate in which more than 70 deputies took turns trading accusations. Prime minister Mečiar attended the session but did not speak. At the close of Thursday s session, labor minister Oľga Keltošová called on Parliament to consider dismissing President Kováč, instead. The government lacks the three-fifths majority needed to fire the president. In his state of the nation address on Wednesday, president Kováč accused the cabinet, personified he said by Mr. Mečiar, of having lost what he termed its moral title of legitimacy. President Kováč repeated his call for the formation of a broad coalition government. He accused the prime minister of unethical practices, corruption, lying, and insulting the president. He said anyone whose views differ from Mr. Mečiar s is initially accused of disloyalty and eventually branded a traitor. President Kováč indicated that Slovakia is not perceived abroad as a reliable partner and noted that foreign investment is dropping. Mr. Mečiar s cabinet responded to Mr. Kováč by accusing the president of damaging Slovakia s international reputation and significantly destabilizing the already difficult domestic political situation. Mr. Mečiar s popularity rating has dropped in recent months from over 50% to just 22%. One opposition politician, Ján Budaj, describing the current crisis, says Slovakia has arrived at the crossroads of democracy and autocracy. Even the former Communist Party, the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), which the prime minister has been courting in recent days, has decided that Mr. Mečiar must go. 24 of the party s 28 members of parliament have signed a demand for the government s recall. In the words of one of the party s Deputy Chairmen, Milan Ftáčnik, negotiations with Mr. Mečiar s party (HZDS) have shown that the prime minister is neither capable nor willing to cooperate with other political parties to overcome the current crisis.

7 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 7 Prime Minister Mečiar has been trying to persuade the Party of the Democratic Left to join his coalition government. But the party s leader, Peter Weiss, has refused to join as long as the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) is in the coalition. SNS s newly-elected radical Chairman, Ján Slota, has offered to withdraw his party from the coalition to allow the Party of the Democratic Left to enter the government, but Mr. Mečiar has reportedly turned him down. The other deputy chairman of the Party of the Democratic Left, Pavol Kanis, says he was offered the presidency during negotiations between his party and Mr. Mečiar s party (HZDS). Mr. Kanis was a close personal aide to Czechoslovakia s last Communist president, Gustáv Husák. His election could further harm Slovakia s image abroad and its international credit standing. (VOA) 43% SLOVAKS TRUST NO POLITICIAN, MEČIAR S APPROVAL SINKS TO 22% According to an opinion poll conducted by the Slovak Statistical Office and published by Slovak media on 11 March, Mečiar remains the most popular politician in Slovakia. However, his popularity dropped from more than 50% in June 1992 to 22% in February. President Kováč, who in some recent polls has come out ahead of Mečiar, now enjoys the support of 20% of the Slovak population. While Mečiar recruits his supporters mainly from the voters of his party, HZDS, and unskilled workers with only basic education, those who expressed sympathy for Kováč are supporters of various parties, and most have higher education. The only other Slovak politician who received a positive rating of more than 5% is the leader of the ex-communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), Peter Weiss (15%). The number of Slovaks who do not trust any politician is alarmingly high (43%) and is apparently still on the rise. (RFE) Wednesday, 9 March 1994 PRESIDENT KOVÁČ BLASTS PREMIER MEČIAR IN PARLIAMENT In his Report on the State of the Slovak Republic, delivered to the parliament on 9 March, Michal Kováč sharply attacked Premier Vladimír Mečiar, accusing him of incompetence, obstruction of democracy, and populism, TASR reports. Kováč said the Mečiar government is losing its moral claim to legitimacy, which in democracies is an inseparable part of the right to be in power. He continued that while he is not against Mečiar s party the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) or against the government, he has serious reservations about the style and ethics of Mr. Mečiar s politics.

8 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 8 One example given by Kováč concerned Mečiar s proposed privatization minister, Ivan Lexa, whom Kováč rejected last November. Kováč said that Mečiar told him he wanted a political ally in the post who could get money from privatization for HZDS. Although the president has repeatedly called for the creation of a new government, this was the first time that he explicitly criticized Mečiar. Kováč did not demand Mečiar s resignation, but he appealed to the members of parliament to unite forces and agree on early elections. (RFE) OPPOSITION CALLS FOR NO-CONFIDENCE IN PREMIER MEČIAR Following Kováč s speech, several opposition parties said they would call a noconfidence vote in the Mečiar government. The opposition has had enough deputies to pass the vote since mid-february, when a group of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar s HZDS deputies left the party. Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) Chairman Ján Čarnogurský said that if Mečiar did not step down himself, KDH would initiate the vote, ČTK reports. Alliance of Democrats of Slovakia (ADS) Chairman Milan Kňažko said the president s speech is more than enough reason to dismiss the government, while Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) member of parliament Robert Fico said the reasons which the president put forward are sufficient for every normal deputy to express no confidence in the government. MPs from the two ethnic Hungarian parties also said they favored the government s dismissal, TASR reports. Kováč, Mečiar, and other top officials met after the speech, but no agreement was reached since Mečiar was unwilling to compromise. Thus, a proposal by KDH deputy Ladislav Pittner to hold a no-confidence vote in the government won the support of 78 of the 142 MPs present. When asked to respond to Kováč s address, Mečiar refused, saying he was unfamiliar with it since he was not there when the speech was given. Parliament thus decided to wait until 10 March to hold the no-confidence vote, allowing Mečiar to familiarize himself with the president s address and respond to the charges. (RFE)

9 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 9 Tuesday, 8 March 1994 PARTY TALKS ON NEW ELECTIONS FALTER Following Monday s late-night negotiations between SDĽ and HZDS, SDĽ Deputy Chairman Milan Ftáčnik said on Tuesday that he did not exclude the possibility that the SDĽ would support the current cabinet until new elections but said that his party would be unable to enter a coalition which includes the Slovak National Party (HZDS s current coalition partner) because of its chairman, Ján Slota. SDĽ Chairman Peter Weiss said the HZDS s offer to give the SDĽ one vacant cabinet post was unacceptable. Ftáčnik denied rumors that Premier Vladimír Mečiar had offered SDĽ the post of president, saying that the offer would have been unequivocally rejected. HZDS Deputy Chairman Sergej Kozlík, however, said this was a subject of unofficial discussions and that he did not exclude this possibility. Another round of talks between HZDS and SDĽ is expected on 9 March. (RFE) NEW SLOVAK AMBASSADOR BRANISLAV LICHARDUS ARRIVES IN US On 8 March Branislav Lichardus presented his credentials to US Assistant Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and started his activities as the first Slovak ambassador to the US, TASR reports. A medical doctor, Lichardus worked as president of the Slovak Academy of Sciences following the Velvet Revolution. (RFE) Monday, 7 March 1994 RULING HZDS TALKS WITH OPPOSITION SDĽ IN HOPES TO STAY IN POWER In an effort to end the present political stalemate, the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), the largest opposition party, began talks with the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) on the issue of early elections, meeting late in the evening on 7 March, TASR reported on 8 March. After five hours of failed negotiations, Sergej Kozlík and Milan Ftáčnik, deputy chairmen of HZDS and SDĽ, respectively, said the two parties still could not agree on a date for early elections. Kozlík said that if no consensus is reached, his party will go ahead with a referendum on June elections; HZDS has already collected more than the 350,000 signatures needed, and the petition for a referendum was presented to the president on 2 March. (RFE)

10 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 10 Changing the Slovak Government, an American s Account A personal account by a U.S. visitor to Slovakia of the events leading up to the vote of no confidence on Friday, 11 March. The visitor left Bratislava on that day. You probably know by this time that the Prime Minister is Mr. Jozef Moravčík, that the Cabinet split is 7 for the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), 7 for the centrist coalition, and 5 for the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). The Foreign Minister will be none of the above instead, a career diplomat. I got back from Bratislava on Saturday (12 March) and the view from there is as follows: 1. The 350,000 referendum signatures are being examined for (1) authenticity of signature including duplications, and (2) tombstone voters. Assuming that the signatures are indeed valid, it is most likely that one of the referendum questions, the one that allows the party to expel and replace dissenters in Parliament, will be disallowed on constitutional grounds (effectively, it would prevent a vote of noconfidence ever to be passed). 2. The abstentions were at the direction of Vladimír Mečiar, who contended that, because expelled dissenters were permitted to remain in Parliament, the Parliament was illegally formed, the vote was unconstitutional, and his party (HZDS) would not participate. 3. The about-face of the third referendum question may be due to the allegations that Mečiar s party had been skimming funds from privatized projects in order to fund other privatization buys as well as to tithe to the party. 4. As near as we could make out, the following sequence of events occurred: a. Wednesday (9 March) morning, the President dropped the bomb. The bomb included about 20 minutes of extemporaneous speech that had not been previously disclosed to his own staff. b. Immediately after he finished, one of the KDH delegates moved a noconfidence vote. Someone (I think Ľudovít Černák) requested a 2-hour extension to the session to permit an immediate vote. The Speaker of Parliament, Ivan Gašparovič, refused and adjourned the Parliament. c. Purportedly, that evening the Mečiar forces attempted to round up support for a vote on Thursday (10 March). d. Thursday morning (or possibly Wednesday before the adjournment), Parliament voted to hold the no-confidence vote by secret ballot rather than open ballot as Mečiar wanted (essentially, he lost the game right then). e. All day Thursday, the Mečiar people filibustered in an effort to postpone the inevitable. Mečiar said he wanted to deliver his speech privately to

11 7-13 March 1994, Slovak News 11 Parliament without the presence of media or the public. This was interpreted by some of the opposition to mean that he had something with which to blackmail either the president or important opposition members. f. Friday (11 March), Mečiar addressed the Parliament on television either because he couldn t come up with any significant blackmail material, he himself was too vulnerable to engage in that kind of mud-slinging, or the interpretation of his motives for the private speech was wrong. Or some combination of the above. We left Bratislava while he was giving his speech and had to wait until we got back to Washington to see how it turned out. It was an exciting visit, to say the least.