KDH MUSINGS DURING THE SUMMER LULL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000716 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2014 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON PHUM LO SUBJECT: KDH MUSINGS DURING THE SUMMER LULL Classified By: DCM Scott N. Thayer for reason 1.4(b). ¶1. (C) Summary/Introduction: Slovakia's traditional summer vacation "cucumber season" allows time for liesurely meetings and deep thoughts. Poloffs recently met with Michal Dyttert, spokesperson for Pavol Hrusovsky, who is Chairman of Parliament and of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). He openly described the conflict between Interior Minister Vladimir Palko's arch-conservativism and Hrusovsky's more moderate Catholic-guided politics. He also discussed KDH's internal problems dealing with corrupt members and the divide between Bratislava and the other regions. Following are Dyttert's summer musings about Slovakia's political scene and KDH's future. End summary. Governing Coalition Deals -------------- ¶2. (C) Alliance for a New Citizen (ANO) seems to have lot of internal problems and leader Pavol Rusko does not pay attention to the party because as Minister of Economy he is busy with the Hyundai/KIA plant and other business issues. There was a conflict between MPs Jozef Heriban and Eva Cerna with regard to EU elections. (Note: Cerna confirms this. MP Jozef Banas left ANO due to Heriban,s ambitions as well.) It is likely that ANO will merge with PM Mikulas Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU),most probably before the end of this term. Some ANO MPs may join other parties. ¶3. (C) SDKU has been trying to reach out to independent MPs, so far successfully. Dyttert is quite certain that the governing coaltiion will last until the end of its term. ¶4. (C) The Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) and KDH are the only stable parties with values in Slovakia. SMK raises issues that are rather sensitive for other politicians, who are wary of Hungarian aspirations for autonomy or territory. As long as SMK is able to keep these issues under control, and the SMK and KDH manage not to irritate each other, cooperation with SMK would be possible in a future government. He commented on Deputy PM for EU Integration and Minorities Pal Csaky, who has not been doing anything lately. He does not have allies within the SMK presidium, but has popular backing in the regions. However, SMK party leader Bela Bugar is a reasonable and popular politician. KDH and its future policy -------------- ¶5. (C) KDH also has internal tensions. Hrusovsky,s leadership position is secure and he will be reelected for another term next year. Dyttert does not think that Palko is a serious threat to Hrusovsky, because he is too radical and does not have enough support in the regions. Palko often makes radical statements, but he does not consult them with the KDH board or leadership and he is like a &disconnected railroad car8 that slips out of control. ¶6. (C) There is a "Bratislava KDH Group." Palko has strong connections with Bratislava KDH reps like Durkovsky (Lord Mayor of Bratislava),Ciernik (Old Town Bratislava Mayor) and Bielik (Mayor of Bratislava's Raca neighborhood). Charges of fraud against Bielik (who is also party chief for the Bratislava region) caused KDH negative press recently. In Dyttert,s view the charges bear some truth, but Bielik is long-time friend of older KDH officials and they expressed support for him. Dyttert advised Hrusovsky to ask Bielik to resign until the charges against him are proved false, but that didn't happen. ¶7. (C) Dyttert predicted that in 2010 there will be a generation change in KDH, but at the moment the top officials are still relatively young (Palko 47, Hrusovsky 51, Minarik 47) and will stay in politics. Hrusovsky has no major health problems. He is a sportsman, and although he had difficulties with his blood pressure, otherwise he is fine. He is an avid runner and goes 10-15 km distances. ¶8. (C) Dyttert also mentioned Hrusovsky,s speech at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and said that politicians were surprised (including SMK and other coalition members), because they were not used to this new terminology (good vs. evil, comparing war on terrorism to Cold War) in Slovakia. Inter-religious Dialogue Not a Priority -------------- ¶9. (C) KDH is not supportive of a dialogue with Muslims or their request to build a mosque. If they come up with 15 thousand signatures (as the law requires to register a church) and ask for state support, KDH will have to accept them; but at the moment, they do not see why Muslims should have their mosque if they don,t qualify under the law. Theoretically they could build a mosque even without being registered, but in practice, they will not get approval from local authorities in Bratislava (now represented by KDH officials),nor all the necessary building permits. The Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) is already following some Muslim activities (even without a central gathering place); this was proven by cooperation leading to the arrest in Britain of terrorists who had been staying in Piestany. Opposition tensions -------------- ¶10. (C) The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) disagrees on how to proceed. One part of Meciar,s party wants to cooperate with SMER (Veteska, Maxon, Cagala, Sobona),but the other group (Urbani, Meciar, Pinkava, Rehak) is more interested in working with SDKU, especially because some of them are under criminal investigation (Pinkava, Rehak) for corruption. Meciar was recently plotting a "coup d'etat" in parliament. He tried to get support from SMER, Free Forum and the Communist Party (KSS) to overthrow the current leadership of parliament. However, he has not been able to gain backing for such action even from within his own ranks. Meciar will not work with Fico, but he is cooperating more often with Dzurinda. This was obvious during the past parliamentary session, when they consulted on some items of the agenda. Party whip Veteska is often very critical of Meciar and they had arguments on various issues, however, Meciar is not ready to give up his position. ¶11. (C) President Gasparovic will also play a role with regard to future developments in HZDS. He has good contacts with some members from his days as HZDS vice-chair, and will try to plot against Meciar. Gasparovic will also have to pacify his supporters from the Slovak Nationalist Party (SNS),who are asking for rewards such as government positions. Dyttert said Cic was a bad choice for chief-of-staff due to his communist past. ¶12. (C) Robert Fico's party Smer ("Direction") has internal problems. This became evident when publicist Fedor Flasik backed land owners in Zilina who refused to sell their land to the state at the assessed price (for the Hyundai/Kia plant). Fico distanced himself from Flasik and his activities. It seems Flasik has been gathering money from various companies under the pretext that it will be used for Smer, but according to Dyttert, he used some funds for private purposes. Fico is concerned that Flasik's fuzzy business deals could affect Smer,s reputation. The party still does not have well-built regional structures, Fico is dominating the party, and he is quite jealous of MPs Robert Kalinak and Monica Benova, who have media appeal. Competition also exists between the western and eastern wings of Smer; easterners (Paska, Bucek) want to promote their people within party structures, but westerners seem to have better leverage. If Smer doesn't get into the next government, it will disintegrate. ¶13. (C) SNS has a chance to get into parliament in the next elections if the two branches unite. Zilina Mayor and SNS leader Jan Slota is a very dangerous man; he is very well connected, including links abroad to various "strange circles." He is an "emperor" in Zilina and has absolute power. He is not really interested in national politics, and his main goal could be to get the party into parliament to get cover for other activities. Therefore, he allied with Ana Malikova and will give her free rein. The other wing of SNS represented by Sulovsky has no power, no money, and few supporters. SIS a Partisan institution -------------- ¶14. (C) Dyttert said KDH believes SIS director Pittner is not very objective. SIS delivers reports to Hrusovsky in a random, rather than systematic, manner. When Hrusovsky is critical of this method and asks about material concerning MPs, Pittner always says that if he gets requests, he is ready to supply them. However, asking for reports when you don't know what is available is like playing, "Go Fish." In Dyttert's view, Pittner serves Dzurinda's interests and is not very objective. He thinks that the current corruption charges against the Agricultural Ministry (headed by SMK) were made public by SIS with the intent to damage SMK. Comment -------------- ¶15. (C) Dyttert represents the "next generation" of KDH leaders, as KDH is one of the few Slovak political parties to actively cultivate young members. His sister Laura Dyttertova is the official KDH spokesperson. Speculating on politics is a national past-time in Slovakia, and not everything Dyttert says can be taken as gospel truth. On the other hand, his position at Hrusovsky's side in Parliament and in the party, combined with his frankness, offer good insight into the state of play on the political scene. Dyttert and his wife have a two-year old son, and a two-month old son. WEISER NNNN