PRIME MINISTER'S PARTY CELEBRATES ITSELF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000964 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON SOCI LO SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER'S PARTY CELEBRATES ITSELF REF: A. BRATISLAVA 802 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 830 ¶C. BRATISLAVA 838 ¶D. BRATISLAVA 733 ¶E. BRATISLAVA 754 ¶F. BRATISLAVA 764 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On December 9, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Smer party Robert Fico addressed the party faithful with a speech highlighting the achievements of the past six months. After focusing on fulfilled domestic campaign promises which "turn the wheel of governance towards the people and their needs", Fico's only foreign policy "win" was the upcoming withdrawal of Slovak troops from Iraq. During the somewhat theatrically-staged event, a mention of the Slovak National Party (SNS) as a stable coalition partner drew considerably less applause than most other statements. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) At Smer's public "party congress" on December 9, Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke for an hour highlighting what the party considers to be its achievements after nearly six months in government. Any internal debate on the party's positions had clearly been settled previously. No one voted against any of the seven, mostly administrative, items on the agenda. (NOTE. Smer held a private, internal party congress several months ago (ref A). END NOTE.) Slovak media criticized the format of this public, so-called party congress. Saturday's event offered a cheering crowd of approximately 2000 party members and an over-the-top entrance by Fico onto the stage while diplomats and other invited guests looked on. DOMESTIC ISSUES, UNITY WITH LABOR UNIONS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Fico opened his speech by noting the strengthening of the party as demonstrated by the June national elections and December local elections. He took the opportunity to malign the "neoliberal" governing style of the previous coalition and highlight Smer's measures "to turn the wheel of governance towards the people and their needs". Providing no surprises, Fico's speech focused on domestic achievements, a list to appeal to the socialist faithful -- reducing and canceling fees in the health sector, increased benefits in pensions, insurance contributions, minimum wage, and other social payments, increased taxes for higher-earners, halting the airport privatization, proposing legislation on tripartite labor negotiations, and keeping energy prices under control by applying pressure on monopolies. Among other domestic priorities for 2007, Fico noted planned reductions in government ministries, in both budgets and staffing. Fico announced his support for the Special Court against corruption and organized crime, which HZDS-appointed Justice Minister Harabin wants to close down (ref B),but said that the Court would need changes. ¶4. (SBU) The slogan of the onstage poster, "For human dignity in a social state," signified solidarity with the labor unions, which regularly use the "human dignity" phrase. FOREIGN POLICY - IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, EURO-ZONES -------------- - ¶5. (SBU) In foreign policy matters, Fico proudly noted that the party had kept its campaign promise of pulling its soldiers out of Iraq, which was the only foreign policy issue that Fico could describe as a success. He used the Baker-Hamilton report as one of the many justifications for the Slovak withdrawal from Iraq, explaining that its recommendation of gradual withdrawal confirmed Smer's long-held views of the conflict in Iraq. Fico reiterated his position on Afghanistan - that the security conditions now are not sufficient for Slovak troops to be moved from Kabul to Kandahar - but left the door open for reevaluation in the future if conditions change. He opined that NATO partners should allow for opinions that differ from the expectations "of our most significant strategic partners." (NOTE. The reference obviously points to the United States. END NOTE.) ¶6. (U) Fico highlighted two national goals: joining the euro-zone and the Schengen zone. COALITION PARTNERS, HALF-HEARTED APPLAUSE FOR SNS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Fico's mention of the Slovak National Party (SNS) as a stabilizing force within the governing coalition received considerably less applause, and distracted looks from some members of the party's "working presidium" sitting behind him on stage, than the resounding cheers for most of his other statements. He continued to blame Smer's suspension from the Party of European Socialists (ref C) on Smer's decision not to include SMK (Party of the Hungarian Coalition) as a governing coalition partner. BRATISLAVA 00000964 002 OF 002 ¶8. (SBU) Referring to Slovak-Hungarian tensions, Fico opined that those who expected extremism because of the governing coalition were disappointed. He pointed to the controversial Hedviga Malinova incident (refs D-F) as a case-in-point of Slovakia successfully averting attempts to inflame tensions. (NOTE. The implication is that Hungarians were behind these attempts. END NOTE.) In the next sentence, Fico noted that the budget for Matica Slovenska would more than double. (COMMENT. Matica Slovenska is a quasi-independent institution established by Slovak law to preserve and promote (ethnic) Slovak culture and history. It helped form the nation's identity in the 19th century, but, in the post-communist era, has become populated with nationalists who look favorably upon the WWII fascist Slovak state. It's unclear why Fico used this opportunity to publicize a step that is not designed to calm political or ethnic tensions among Slovaks and Hungarians, which had otherwise quieted down after the August-September peak. He may be appealing to the nationalistic wing within his own party or taking a swipe at the opposition SMK party. END COMMENT.) COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Smer insiders have commented recently on the need to reinvigorate party life, since the formerly active members are all now sitting in ministries or in parliament. Furthermore, since Smer did so much better in the June elections than predicted, many of its MPs are relatively unknown even within the party, and may not have the strongest of ties. There is a history in Slovakia of groups of MPs fracturing off from the ruling party, which Smer would like to avoid. Hence, the party congress mostly resembled a pep rally, designed to build spirit and loyalty. VALLEE