RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 96, 21 May 1998

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT MAKES CONTROVERSIAL CHANGE TO ELECTION
LAW. Lawmakers on 20 May approved the controversial
amendment to the electoral law proposed by Vladimir Meciar's
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), RFE/RL's
Bratislava bureau and Reuters reported. The amended law
requires each party within an alliance to cross a 5 percent
threshold in order to gain representation. The previous law
had required that alliances of three parties or more receive
at least 10 percent of the vote and individual parties 5
percent. In response to the intention to amend the law, the
Slovak Democratic Coalition, which was the main opposition
alliance, has formed a single party, while three ethnic
Hungarian parties have merged to form the Hungarian
Coalition. Bela Bugar, a deputy of the Hungarian Coalition,
said the amended law's "sole purpose" is to ensure the
HZDS's victory in September. MS

HORN, ORBAN HOLD TELEVISED DEBATE. Gyula Horn, chairman of
the ruling Socialist Party, and Viktor Orban, leader of the
main opposition Federation of Young Democrats-Hungarian
Civic Party (FIDESZ-MPP), took part in a debate broadcast
live on national radio and television on 20 May. Most
analysts consider the result of that meeting to have been a
"draw." Orban said his party proved in the first round of
the elections that an alternative to the present government
exists. Horn criticized the FIDESZ-MPP's economic program
and mentioned the possibility of continuing the coalition
with the Free Democrats, while Orban said that FIDESZ-MPP
hopes to win enough seats to form a coalition with the
Democratic Forum and the Christian Democratic Alliance,
without including the Independent Smallholders' Party. MSZ

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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 97, 22 May 1998

SLOVAK GOVERNMENT CLOSES GAP IN POLLS. The governing
coalition in Slovakia has slightly closed the gap between
itself and the combined opposition forces, Reuters reported
on 21 May. A poll conducted by the Bratislava-based Opinions
institute earlier this month shows the opposition's lead
reduced from 62 percent in April to 52 percent. The
coalition parties are now backed by 31 percent, 1 percent
less than last month. Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia is the single most
popular party (21 percent), slightly ahead of the opposition
Slovak Democratic Coalition (19 percent). The opposition
Party of Civic Understanding and Party of the Democratic
Left are backed by 13 percent each, and the Hungarian
Coalition by 7 percent. The ultra-right Slovak National
Party's has 8 percent support and the leftist Workers' Party
2 percent, below the 5 percent threshold for parliamentary
representation. MS

FIDESZ LEADER DENIES 'GRAND COALITION' PLANS. Viktor Orban,
head of the main opposition Federation of Young Democrats-
Hungarian Civic Party (FIDESZ-MPP), on 21 May excluded the
possibility of a "grand coalition" of his party with the
Socialists. Cooperation with Socialists and their coalition
partner, the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), would run
counter to the meaning of democracy, as a democratic system
implies the existence of an alternative, he said. SZDSZ
chairman Gabor Kuncze said that if voters choose to unseat
the present government, they face uncertainty, since FIDESZ-
MPP has not named its potential coalition partners. On 22
May, Independent Smallholders' Party chairman Jozsef Torgyan
announced he is withdrawing 82 candidates in favor of
FIDESZ. MSZ

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               Copyright (c) 1998 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
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