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Non-parliamentary Parties View 2009 as Successful Year for Them
Monday 04 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 4 (TASR) - Last year was marked by the global crisis, scandals, disputes within political parties and three elections; but the chairmen of three non-parliamentary parties all said on Monday that they view 2009 as a successful year.
According to Bela Bugar, chairman of the Most-Hid party created after a split from the ethnic-Hungarian SMK party, it's necessary to acknowledge the impact of the global crisis in any evaluation of 2009. "We need to acknowledge the fact that the crisis came about. However, the governing Coalition had no interest whatsoever in addressing this issue in co-operation with the Opposition and failed to find any resolution," said Bugar, adding that manipulated tenders and various scandals didn't help matters much. Overall, he sees 2009 in a positive light, with the polls being the greatest source of his happiness.
"We're glad because over the past five months we've reached more than 5 percent in the polls (the minimum amount of votes required for a political party to get into Parliament)," said Bugar. Getting into Parliament in the upcoming elections and collaborating with the democratic forces is the highest priority for his party.
The Conservative Democrats of Slovakia (KDS) are content with 2009 as well. "We've taken part in all three most recent elections, our presidential candidate (Frantisek Miklosko) ended up third and we gained more than 2 percent in the Euro-parliamentary elections," said KDS chairman Vladimir Palko. In 2009, KDS was mainly preoccupied in its struggle against the Treaty of Lisbon and "against the gambling that threatens society" and attempts to pass measures supporting families. The pre-election polls are of no concern to KDS. "We plan to function long-term, which means that we're not bothered by our current standing and current level of support," said Palko.
The Movement For Democracy (HZD) was focused mainly on the Presidential elections in 2009, said HZD chairman Jozef Grapa. "We consider the Presidential elections to be a huge success, as our candidate Ivan Gasparovic, the founding chairman of our party, has secured re-election for his second term as President," said Grapa, adding that Gasparovic was the first President who managed to do so.
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