Slovakia's former president Andrej Kiska on Monday launched a centrist political party, saying he wants to join forces with the opposition to defeat the populist government in next year's general election.
The move comes two days after anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova, a fellow liberal and vocal government critic, was sworn in as Slovakia's first female president.
Kiska, 56, is a self-made millionaire who earned his fortune in the United States before taking office in 2014. He decided not to run for a second term.
"This is not one man's party. This is the best team possible for Slovakia," Kiska said in the central city of Banska Bystrica, where he introduced the other founding members of the "Za ludi" (For the People) party.
They include Tomas Valasek, a former Slovak ambassador to NATO and the current director of the Carnegie Europe think tank, as well as several mayors, a former MEP and a former state secretary.
Another founding member is Juraj Seliga, one of the organisers of the weekly anti-government protests that took place after the February 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak.
Kuciak and his fiancee were gunned down at home as he was about to publish an explosive report on alleged high-level corruption and contacts between top Slovak politicians and Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia.
The killings and Kuciak's article, published posthumously, triggered a political crisis that forced then premier Robert Fico to resign in the eurozone member of 5.4 million people.
But Fico remains the leader of the Smer-SD governing party and is a close ally of current Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini.
Smer-SD's popularity has tumbled to around 20 percent in polls, though it remains the country's most liked party, followed by a coalition of centrist non-parliamentary parties.
Opinion surveys conducted before the official launch show that Kiska's party has a chance to pass the five-percent threshold required to make it into parliament in the March 2020 vote.
"We need to unite. We must prepare a programme of cooperation," with opposition parties, Kiska said on Monday.
The party's priorities include affordable and quality healthcare, justice, better education, a healthier environment and more support for the country's least developed regions.
Slovakia’s former president Andrej Kiska on Monday launched a centrist political party, saying he wants to join forces with the opposition to defeat the populist government in next year’s general election.
The move comes two days after anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova, a fellow liberal and vocal government critic, was sworn in as Slovakia’s first female president.
Kiska, 56, is a self-made millionaire who earned his fortune in the United States before taking office in 2014. He decided not to run for a second term.
“This is not one man’s party. This is the best team possible for Slovakia,” Kiska said in the central city of Banska Bystrica, where he introduced the other founding members of the “Za ludi” (For the People) party.
They include Tomas Valasek, a former Slovak ambassador to NATO and the current director of the Carnegie Europe think tank, as well as several mayors, a former MEP and a former state secretary.
Another founding member is Juraj Seliga, one of the organisers of the weekly anti-government protests that took place after the February 2018 murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak.
Kuciak and his fiancee were gunned down at home as he was about to publish an explosive report on alleged high-level corruption and contacts between top Slovak politicians and Italy’s notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia.
The killings and Kuciak’s article, published posthumously, triggered a political crisis that forced then premier Robert Fico to resign in the eurozone member of 5.4 million people.
But Fico remains the leader of the Smer-SD governing party and is a close ally of current Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini.
Smer-SD’s popularity has tumbled to around 20 percent in polls, though it remains the country’s most liked party, followed by a coalition of centrist non-parliamentary parties.
Opinion surveys conducted before the official launch show that Kiska’s party has a chance to pass the five-percent threshold required to make it into parliament in the March 2020 vote.
“We need to unite. We must prepare a programme of cooperation,” with opposition parties, Kiska said on Monday.
The party’s priorities include affordable and quality healthcare, justice, better education, a healthier environment and more support for the country’s least developed regions.
