KDH: A SCHISM IN SLOVAKIA'S CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRATISLAVA 000594 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI LO SUBJECT: KDH: A SCHISM IN SLOVAKIA'S CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN PARTY REF: A. BRATISLAVA 494 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 99 ¶C. BRATISLAVA 513 ¶D. BRATISLAVA 532 Classified By: Ambassador Rodolphe M. Vallee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Slovakia's conservative Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) is suffering a crisis of leadership. The Hrusovsky-led pragmatist and the Palko-led principled factions disagree as to whether KDH should play the role of a small utilitarian party in any type of governing coalition or remain the conservative moral compass of the Slovak political spectrum. The pragmatists outweigh the principled few at this point, causing five members of the eleven-member party presidium to resign their leadership positions. An extraordinary party congress will meet on July 22 to fill the empty presidium seats. KDH is unlikely to disintegrate from the rift. However, it will need to heal its internal strife if it wants to play an effective role in the opposition. END SUMMARY. WHY WE CARE ABOUT KDH -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Established in 1993, KDH is a conservative, right-wing party based on Catholic moral values with a strong anti-corruption theme. The party is known for being staunchly principled. KDH was a responsible and effective partner in the GOS's governing coalition from 1998 - Feb ¶2006. KDH oversaw the passage of legislation to increase transparency and, through control of the Justice Ministry, established special courts to combat high-level corruption and organized crime cases. Though SDKU now gets the credit, Slovakia's successful flat tax was initially proposed by KDH. KDH's platform does not always mesh with U.S. policy goals but it remains one of the most respectable parties in the Slovak Parliament. Holding 14 out of 150 parliamentary seats, KDH received the smallest percentage (8.31) of votes of the six parties which passed the 5-percent threshold to enter Parliament in the June 17th elections. Though small, the quality of its people may allow for greater influence than the numbers would imply. WHAT CAUSED THE GREAT SCHISM? -------------- ¶3. (SBU) KDH will only be able to realize its potential influence if it can overcome its internal split. After a united stance against joining any coalition with Vladimir Meciar, thereby squashing Mikulas Dzurinda's hope of forming a government (ref A),the KDH leadership debated and eventually disagreed over participating in a coalition headed by Robert Fico of Smer. The schism is essentially a debate of principles versus pragmatism. KDH's principled stance on the implementation of a treaty signed with the Holy See caused it to leave the center-right governing coalition in February, thus causing the fall of the government and forcing early elections (ref B). KDH then received about three percentage points less than expected from voters. These political realities appear to have convinced the majority of KDH's leadership, after ten days of post-election internal debate (ref C),that political compromise could accomplish more than unbending principle. After a 6-5 vote of the party presidium, KDH publicly announced that it was willing to go into coalition with the leftist party Smer. The disastrously timed announcement came mere hours before Smer, fed up with waiting for KDH's answer to its generous proposal (ref C), announced its decision to govern with SNS and HZDS (ref D). Since then, the pragmatic and the principled factions within KDH have privately and publicly aired their differences. (Note: The terms "pragmatic" and "principled factions" are Embassy phrases, not used by KDH. End note.) During an eight-hour meeting of KDH's 120-member council on July 8, the majority supported the pragmatic faction of Chairman Pavol Hrusovsky. The last of the five members of the principled faction of the presidium then resigned their leadership positions. This remains the current status of the schism. KDH will hold an extraordinary party congress on July 22 to vote on new presidium members. ¶4. (SBU) KDH has weathered internal schisms and splintering before. Among other splits, Mikulas Dzurinda departed from KDH to form SDKU and become Prime Minister for eight years. Although Dzurinda took some KDH voters and members, KDH survived and was voted into parliament. THE PRAGMATISTS -------------- ¶5. (C) The pragmatist faction is led by Chairman Pavol Hrusovsky with support from fellow presidium members Julius Brocka, Alojz Pridal, Martin Fronc, Jozef Simko, and Peter Bobula. Their support comes from the local and regional BRATISLAVA 00000594 002 OF 003 structures of the party. In a conversation with PolChief, the party's deputy chairman Brocka blamed the public statements of Daniel Lipsic and to a lesser extent Vladimir Palko for preventing KDH from going into coalition with Smer. Brocka said that Smer deputy chairmen Robert Kalinak and Pavol Paska were much more in favor of a coalition with KDH and SMK than what they ended up with. Brocka believes that KDH would have been better off in the governing coalition rather than in the opposition. ¶6. (C) The regional structures of the party had a bread-and-butter reason to support a coalition with Smer - jobs. The Ministries of Interior, Justice, and Education have offices throughout Slovakia, where KDH supporters are employed. These KDH members are expected to be replaced by supporters of the parties that are in the governing coalition. In KDH party meetings, the regional representatives have a lot of strength, meaning Hrusovsky and the other pragmatists can count on them for support. ¶7. (C) Brocka would prefer close cooperation with the other opposition members, SDKU and SMK. However, he fears that coordinated opposition might not be possible if Palko's principled faction won't cooperate. Brocka indicated that KDH will oppose any proposals by Smer to change the reforms and positive legislative steps of the prior governing coalition. ¶8. (C) In the pragmatist view, further internal strife in KDH will only play into the hands of Dzurinda, who is waiting to swoop up ever more KDH voters, perhaps to the point of dismantling KDH. Brocka believes that KDH's chance to raise its popularity among voters lies in attracting media interest and demonstrating the consistency of their policy. THE PRINCIPLED FACTION -------------- ¶9. (C) Vladimir Palko, Daniel Lipsic, Rudolf Bauer, Frantisek Miklosko, and Pavol Minarik are the five former KDH presidium members who resigned over KDH's eventual agreement to partner with Smer. They believe that their conservative principles are at the heart of everything KDH represents. The last-minute announcement of KDH's willingness to join Smer was nothing less than a humiliating debasement, according to this camp. Going into coalition with the leftist Smer or the corrupt HZDS was unthinkable to them. They do not want to play the role of the utilitarian party, ready to be the smaller party in any governing coalition. KDH should stand firm as the country's conservative and moral compass on the right side of the political spectrum. ¶10. (C) Palko's advisor Jaroslav Daniska told PolOff that the split in KDH had existed for some time but was brought to the boiling point by the elections. He feels that the lack of a pre-election statement from KDH to indicate that they would not form a coalition with Smer is what lost them the three percentage points on election day, which he believes went to SDKU because Dzurinda did make such a statement, resulting in the weakened political position that KDH now faces. Daniska insisted that this internal struggle needs to run its course, implying that it is far from over. He indicated that Palko will run for KDH Chairmanship at the next regular session of the party congress in 2007, which should give him time to change the party spirit. Daniska believes that KDH will survive the current strife, but it may take some time to reconcile. Coordinated cooperation in the opposition may be difficult until the party mends its own wounds. ¶11. (C) Daniska provided a few ideas that he thought would help KDH increase its electoral results in the future. The party should appeal to rural voters by focusing on family, social, and "patriotic" values. KDH's version of family values means providing financial support only to families whose children are born in wedlock. A focus on patriotic values is KDH's recognition that some of its votership overlaps with SNS and HZDS. The party can appeal to urban voters by communicating its strong anti-corruption stance, Daniska said. ¶12. (C) One thing both factions can agree on is wariness of Mikulas Dzurinda. His political savvy has the potential to exacerbate the problems within KDH. Dzurinda advisor Tatiana Rosova told PolChief after the elections that SDKU would like to consolidate the right and make the Slovak political scene more "standard European." That said, SDKU remains the natural political partner of KDH. IS RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE? -------------- ¶13. (C) Founder, former Chairman, and (in the words of Daniska) "Democratic Machiavelli," Jan Carnogursky has announced his return to the party leadership though says he BRATISLAVA 00000594 003 OF 003 does not plan to run for the Chairmanship. Daniska's preferred resolution to the split is to have Carnogursky take over the party, return the politics to its principled base, but allow Hrusovsky to save face. However, this solution may not be likely given that Carnogursky supported a coalition with Smer. The pragmatists think that the other faction simply needs to realize that compromise is part of the political process. Less than 15 percent of the KDH council supported the principled position. Having the majority of support within the party, the pragmatists are ready to move on. That said, they recognize that a problem exists within the party. It is perhaps up to the majority pragmatists to allow the principled faction to save face. Brocka attributed some of the strife to post-campaigning fatigue. ¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: KDH is unlikely to disintegrate or split in half. If a few determined members left now, they wouldn't take a significant part of KDH supporters with them. But there is not space in a country of 5.5 million inhabitants for more than one Christian conservative party. In an attempt to return KDH to its core principles, Palko and Lipsic intend to travel Slovakia to promote their own vision to party members over the coming year leading up to the regular party congress in 2007. In the short-term, the extraordinary session of the party congress, including the pragmatic regional representatives, is expected to endorse Hrusovsky this Saturday. KDH needs to heal its internal strife if it wants to play an effective role in the opposition. VALLEE