Siet MPs Want Early Congress, Csefalvayova Might Become Party Leader
Bratislava, June 21 (TASR) – MPs for Opposition party Siet (Network) support the idea of summoning a premature party congress at which a new chairman would be elected, TASR learnt from Siet MP Alena Basistova on Tuesday.
Fellow Siet MP Katarina Csefalvayova hasn’t yet confirmed whether she’ll apply for the post, but she hasn’t ruled this out, either. Basistova mentioned Csefalvayova as one of the possible candidates for the party leader post. A meeting of the party leadership should decide whether to convene an early party congress later this week.
Nevertheless, Siet MPs concur that problems within the party need to be resolved as soon as possible. The fact that Siet is a young party might be one of the reasons behind its problems. “Relations are being formed, and communication problems are a consequence of the need to make them clear,” said Basistova, adding that she supports the idea of a premature congress.
Basistova didn’t say whether Siet chairman Radoslav Prochazka has failed. However, she admitted that internal communication problems have been present within the party for a fairly long time. She also didn’t like the way in which Prochazka informed the public that Andrej Hrnciar and Martin Fedor had been stripped of their party posts. “It should have been resolved within the organisation,” she said. Basistova hasn’t spoken to Prochazka since Friday.
Other MPs who have opposed Prochazka haven’t spoken to him since then, either. Hrnciar thinks that communications within the party should be more intensive. He expects the leadership to consider a premature congress as well. “We’ll discuss all the alternatives, including an early congress,” he said, not specifying a potential date.
However, Siet MPs don’t want media speculation about the situation in the party to traumatise the public or the coalition partners. They still pledge support for the governing coalition.
Prochazka dismissed Hrnciar from the post of Siet first vice-chairman and Fedor as a presidium member on Friday. He informed the media about this, citing an alleged secret agreement between the two MPs concerning a meeting about the possibilities for cooperation with coalition partners Smer-SD and Most-Hid as the reason for his move.
In reaction to Prochazka’s actions, five out of the seven Siet MPs expressed a lack of confidence in his abilities to lead the party. At the congress they want to present to party members their alternative along with a plan for the party’s recovery and for regaining public trust.
