Slovak Leftists Say Govt Likely without Hungarians

BRATISLAVA (REUTERS) - Slovakia‘s reformed communist party said it wanted to form a new government without the country‘s main ethnic Hungarian grouping The country‘s four opposition parties handed Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar a heavy defeat in general elections last weekend and they are now locked in negotiations on forming a new government. The former communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDL) held talks with the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) on Friday having met the two other main opposition parties — the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and the Party of Civic Understanding (SOP) — earlier in the week. We are coming from the point of view that… the optimal solution would be the creation of a government of three political subjects — SDK, SDL and SOP, Democratic Left leader Jozef Migaš was quoted as saying. Slovakia was excluded from European Union accession talks amid accusations Meciar‘s government was backsliding on democracy and failing to pay due regard to the rights of the country‘s 500,000 strong ethnic Hungarian minority. Diplomatic sources say the presence of Hungarians in any new government would send a clear signal of change in Slovakia to the outside world. TASR said Migaš would not give his reasons for thinking the SMK should be left out of a coalition, but reported that he had not ruled out further talks with the Hungarians. SMK leader Bela Bugar said he was disappointed and that if his party were excluded it would act as a strong opposition . The opposition parties said earlier this week they hoped to have more concrete details of the government they intend to form. A three-party bloc excluding the Hungarians would have a large majority, but not big enough to change the constitution on its own or vote in a new president.