US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA694

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000694 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, ECON, ETRD, PINR, LO 
SUBJECT: COALITION NEEDS ANO LIKE A FISH NEEDS A BICYCLE 
 
REF: A. BRATISLAVA 683 
     B. BRATISLAVA 682 
     C. BRATISLAVA 677 
     D. BRATISLAVA 663 
     E. BRATISLAVA 626 
     F. BRATISLAVA 618 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  (SBU)  In the wake of the sacking of their party leader, 
Pavol Rusko, seven MPs from the Alliance of New Citizen 
(ANO), in addition to Minister of Culture Toth, Minister of 
Health Zajac, and another independent MP, have submitted a 
written pledge to support the GOS coalition.  With this 
declaration of loyalty August 26, Prime Minister Dzurinda can 
ignore former Minister of Economy Rusko's request to remove 
Toth and Zajac, and be assured that he still maintains ample 
support to pursue his agenda and pass the national budget 
later in the fall.  One of the members of the breakaway 
group, ANO Vice Chairman and caucus leader Lubomir Lintner, 
said that the loyalty of this gang of eight also allows 
Dzurinda to amend the coalition agreement, scratching ANO's 
name off of it and replacing it with this new caucus. 
 
RUSKO STILL HAS REGIONAL SUPPORT, AND THE HELM 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
2.  (SBU)  That said, ANO Chairman Rusko received statements 
of support from all but one of the regional branches of his 
party.  The Presov branch, the only one to side against him, 
was likely influenced by the fact that their member, Peter 
Biros, was excluded from party presidium meetings earlier in 
the week.  While there is clearly a struggle for control 
going on within ANO, the party is likely to remain loyal to 
Rusko's leadership, as his ample pocketbook continues to 
support the party's structures and the influence of his 
television station has always been an asset to the movement. 
 
3.  (SBU)  MP Jirko Malcharek and Lintner, who were both 
informed by the party that they are no longer members of the 
presidium, claim that the August 27 meeting of the ANO 
leadership (which will include the presidium, youth branch, 
and regional leadership) is going to be manipulated by Rusko. 
 They pointed out that many members of the regional branches 
were not informed of the venue of meetings this week, making 
it impossible for them to attend to discuss the party's 
future or their confidence in Rusko. 
 
THE GANG OF EIGHT:  WHO ARE THEY? 
--------------------------------- 
 
4.  (U)  The seven ANO MPs who signed the statement of 
coalition support were Lubomir Lintner, Jirko Malcharek, 
Peter Biros, Jozef Elsner, Jozef Heriban, Rudolf Chmel, and 
Stanislav Kropilak.  They were joined by independent MP Anton 
Danko, himself a former member of ANO, and Ministers 
Frantisek Toth and Rudolf Zajac. 
 
VALLEE 
 
 
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