SaS having troubles with ‘Ordinary People’

The dispute that sparked off over the discontent of the faction Obycajni ludia (translation: Ordinary People) in the SaS has caused quite a stir. The four members of Obycajni ludia (Igor Matovic, Jozef Viskupic, Erika Jurinova and Martin Fecko) were dissatisfied with the fact that their demands, and pre-election promises, were not taken into account when compiling the government Manifesto.

Yesterday, 27 July, some harsh words were exchanged on TV between SaS chairman Richard Sulik and the head of the OL faction, Igor Matovic, who did not rule out their departure from the SaS. With such a slim majority in parliament, the departure of even a few members from the coalition would mean the government would lose its majority, which could then be very detrimental for the government coalition and have serious consequences for the country.

A report posted on daily Hospodarske Noviny’s online version (hnonline.sk) earlier today quoted Igor Matovic as saying the faction had decided to leave the SaS parliamentary caucus with its four MPs. He was quoted as saying “It would be hypocritical of us to remain in the SaS parliamentary caucus and pretend nothing has happened”.

The information came as a surprise to everyone, including SaS chairman Sulik, who had received no official notification of such a move. The information was later denied, however, and is now being referred to as a hoax. The four members of SaS from Obycajni ludia will remain in the SaS caucus, confirmed Jozef Viskupic from the faction, who denied reports to the contrary. “All four of us are currently members of the SaS parliamentary caucus, it’s just a hoax,” he said.

Viskupic did say, though, that leaving the caucus was one of the options for the OL members, and they still want to hold talks with SaS head Richard Sulik . The earlier report of Hospodarske Noviny quoted Matovic as saying: “It would be hypocritical of us to remain in the SaS parliamentary caucus and pretend that nothing has happened”.

Just how things will work out remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, the SaS will have its work cut out for it in order to iron out the conflict, and any others that look set to manifest also in future.