Simon Has Collected Enough Signatures For New Party

Bratislava, January 11 (TASR) - The new political party of MP Zsolt Simon (Independent) Magyar-Hungarian Forum is almost ready to be registered, TASR has learnt. Zsolt would like to present more than 11,000 signatures at the Interior Ministry before the end of January; the statutes of the party will be decided before that. "The collection [of signatures] wasn't easy as people weren't willing to provide their ID numbers. They were more willing to provide their birth numbers and dates of birth. We had to eliminate quite a number of signatures because of that," clarified Zsolt at a press conference. "Everyone who's actively participated in the collection, which is more than 40 people, will be approving the statutes of the party. These 40 people should have the status of founding members of the party. Simon answered his own question whether it makes sense to found another Hungarian party. "We consider it necessary for the citizens of Hungarian nationality to have a responsible representation." Simon is not afraid of the possibility that none of the Hungarian parties could get into the Parliament due to the fragmentation of votes. The party won't participate in the upcoming EU parliament elections, their priority is the 2020 Parliament elections. By the end of February the party will inform who'll have their support in this year's presidential elections. Magyar-Hungarian Forum has ruled out co-operation with Smer-SD, SNS and Marian Kotleba's far-right LSNS party. The party should be financed from its members' own money. It wants to bring about a change in generations and new attitudes. zel/mcs/am