Slovakia Political Roundup January 11-22, 2004

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SUBJECT: Slovakia Political Roundup January 11-22, 2004



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Anti-corruption Laws Watered Down, Then Withdrawn
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2. (U) Parliament returned January 20 to an ambitious
agenda. The Conflict-of-Interest law, an important part of
the Ministry of Justice's anti-corruption legislation
proposals, was watered down significantly before it reached
a vote. The law would have set out guidelines for
transparency and property disclosure for public officials
from the national government down to municipalities. The
most critical change was an increased quorum (three-fifths
rather than a simple majority) needed to sanction a fellow
MP. With the changes, however, the law would be virtually
unenforceable. Rather than leave the impractical
legislation to a vote in the third reading, Justice Minister
Lipsic withdrew it.


3. (U) Similarly, the Origin-of-Property Law passed by a
wide margin in the second reading. But this was only after
MPs eliminated the provision that would have required a
suspect to prove in court that he obtained a disputed
property legally. The original legislation was aimed at
giving prosecutors authority to investigate when a public
official obtained or built property that is worth far more
than he/she could reasonably be expected to afford on a
government salary. As with the conflict of interest law,
with the provision eliminated, the law would be toothless.
KDH and Smer MPs voted against the new version of the law,
but most others voted for it.


4. (SBU) Comment: The watering-down of these important laws
before passing them on the second reading points to a
continuing lack of political will to truly fight corruption.
It is interesting to note in the voting record on the
property law that some MPs who benefited significantly from
privatization of industry, such as Vladimir Meciar and
Viliam Sobona of HZDS, were not present for this vote.

WWII Criminal Arrested in Germany
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5. (U) German police arrested Slovak war criminal Ladislav
Niznansky, who was a member of the Edelweiss unit under the
Nazi state. He is accused of burning two villages, Ostry
Grun and Klak, during World War II and the homicide of 146
people. If convicted, Niznansky will be sentenced to life
in prison. Niznansky is now a German citizen.

Coalition Now a Minority, But Initiatives Still Pass
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6. (U) Governing coalition initiatives continued to pass,
despite the ongoing dispute between SDKU and Ivan Simko's
Free Forum. The Free Forum deputies and other independents
joined the coalition to pass a pension law. In addition,
parliament approved agreements with the Vatican and with 11
of the registered religions in Slovakia regarding religious
education. Beginning in the first grade, students will be
required to take either a class in their religion or ethics.
However, there would need to be at least 12 students for a
class to be taught in any given religion. Teachers of
registered religions are paid by the state. ANO deputies,
who object to the expansion of religious influence in the
government and schools, voted against the agreement, as did
opposition Smer and Communist MPs. Members of the other
three coalition parties, all HZDS deputies, independent MPs,
and members of the breakaway Free Forum and People's Union
parties voted in favor.

Opposition Leaders Meet but Can't Agree
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7. (U) Opposition party leaders held a strategy meeting but
could not agree on deposing the government. Neither HZDS
Chairman Vladimir Meciar nor Smer Chairman Robert Fico would
want to work together in a new government. Vojtech Tkac,
chair of People's Union, called a second meeting, still
hoping for a no-confidence vote, but opposition parties
again could not agree. Ivan Simko's Free Forum might
support no-confidence votes on individual ministers, but not
to recall the government, according to comments he made in
the press.

Two Deputy Speaker Seats Vacant
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8. (U) Of four total deputy speaker posts in Parliament,
only two are now occupied, by Bela Bugar of SMK and Viliam
Veteska of HZDS. Zuzana Martinakova of Free Forum resigned
her post, and Pavol Rusko's seat, left empty when he became

Minister of Economy, was never filled, as Lubomir Lintner's
candidacy failed twice.

Presidential Election Pre-Campaigns Continue
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9. (U) Ivan Gasparovic has 21,900 signatures on a petition
backing his presidential candidacy, more than the 15,000
required. A petition for President Rudolf Schuster's
candidacy was also submitted but reports indicated there was
a technical problem: Schuster had not included a signed
statement agreeing to be a candidate. His spokesman, Jan
Fule, announced Schuster would run for re-election, but
Schuster said the next day that he had not yet decided. He
has not clarified his intentions since, and has until
January 29 to file.


10. (U) Independent presidential candidate (and former
Ambassador to the United States) Martin Butora held a pre-
campaign event called "Slovakia Through the Eyes of Martin
Butora." The standing-room-only audience of about 200
included many prominent intellectuals and NGO leaders as
well as Smer MP Robert Kalinak. Butora outlined ten areas
for improvement in Slovakia in a speech called "Crisis is an
Opportunity for Growth," including citizens' growing
distrust in government, wide disparities between different
regions of Slovakia, and excessive influence of special-
interest groups. He also addressed issues of European
integration and transatlantic relations with a somewhat
critical eye. The speech lasted about an hour and was
followed by thoughtful, lengthy questions and answers.

Ruling Coalition Rift in Trencin Mirrors National Scene
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11. (SBU) The ruling coalition in Trencin (Slovakia's 10th
largest city) has broken up over disagreements about
candidates for mayor, to replace former mayor and SDKU
regional chair Juraj Liska, who became defense minister late
last year. A coalition of KDH, ANO, Democratic Party (DS)
and SDKU won 22 of 25 council seats as well as the mayoral
seat in December 2002 local elections. Last October, the
coalition had agreed to nominate Branislav Celler of DS,
whom KDH opposes due to his controversial personality and
business interests. KDH will support its own candidate,
possibly acting mayor Jan Kratky. Comment: During a recent
visit to Trencin, poloffs noted evident strain between KDH
and ANO representatives, who would barely speak at lunch
together. If the coalition cannot come together to support
a candidate, HZDS could regain control of the mayor's seat.

Schuster Visits Egypt to Forge New Ties
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12. (U) President Schuster took a three-day trip to Egypt.
He hoped to develop stronger relations and new economic ties
between the two countries as well as cooperation in
international organizations, such as support for Slovakia as
a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2006
and 2007. He met with Egyptian President Muhammad Hosni
Mubarak, Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, and Ahmed Fathy
Sorour, the president of the Egyptian People's Assembly.

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