RFE/RL Daily Report
No. 178, 19 September 1994
SLOVAK PARTY LEADERS' PREELECTION DEBATE. On 18 September,
speaking during the last televised debate of Slovakia's party
leaders before the elections (scheduled for 30 September and 1
October), Democratic Left Party Chairman Peter Weiss said that he
was in favor of creating "a broad coalition" after the elections
rather than cooperating with Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia. Weiss said that only such a broad coalition
could lead the country out of the current crisis and that his and
Meciar's parties differed too deeply over economic policies and
other issues. A leader of the coalition of three ethnic Hungarian
parties, Pal Csaky, said the coalition was in favor of creating
three regions in the south of Slovakia, where ethnic Hungarians
would be in a majority. Slovak National Party Chairman Jan Slota
argued that Hungarian minority leaders were seeking
destabilization and the secession of southern Slovakia. The
proposal on the regions was also rejected by Slovak Prime Minister
Moravcik, Weiss, and Mikulas Dzurinda, a leader of the Christian
Democratic Movement. Meciar argued that the current government had
made itself too dependent on the ethnic Hungarian parties'
support. -- Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.
PREELECTION OPINION POLLS IN SLOVAKIA. According to an opinion
poll released by the Slovak Statistical Office on 16 September,
Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia would win the
elections with 26.6% of the popular vote if the elections were
held now. The MDS is followed by the Party of the Democratic Left,
with 20%, and by the coalition of Hungarian ethnic parties, with
11%. The Christian Democratic Movement of Jan Carnogursky would
receive 9.1% of the vote, while current Prime Minister Jozef
Moravcik's Democratic Union would command 8.4%. The last of the
six parties that would top the 5% threshold necessary for winning
seats in the parliament is the Association of Workers, with 5.9%.
The Slovak National Party's has lost more than 3% of its
supporters since the previous poll and would now win 3.2% of the
vote. -- Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.
HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT VISITS CHINA. President Arpad Goncz, in China
for a four-day state visit, met with President Jiang Zemin and
Prime Minister Li Peng to discuss bilateral and international
issues, MTI reported on 16 September. According to Goncz, the two
countries' views on human rights differed but China's human rights
record should not hinder cooperation in other fields, such as
trade and Hungarian participation in Chinese government projects.
-- Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL Inc.
HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER ON THE ECONOMY. Gyula Horn speaking on
Hungarian Television on 18 September, said that the country's
economic situation was "not too rosy." Some 600 billion forint and
almost 1 million jobs had been lost during the privatization
process, domestic and foreign debts amounted to 600 billion forint
(or 35% of total expenditures), and an illegal economy was
estimated to account for 25-35% of the national income. -- Alfred
Reisch, RFE/RL Inc.
[As of 1200 CET]
(Compiled by Penny Morvant and Maggie Evling)
Copyright 1994, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
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A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
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Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
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