Sutaj Estok: New Voice-SD Chair to Be Elected at Party Congress

Bratislava, April 7 (TASR) - Prior to Peter Pellegrini's presidential inauguration, Voice-SD will hold a large congress to elect a new party chair, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) told the media on early Sunday. Sutaj Estok voiced hope that the new party chairman will be as good as Pellegrini. "I'm a social democrat through and through, I've always been a leftist and have always tried to do my work to the best of my ability, whether as an opposition lawmaker or currently as the Interior Minister and the party's general manager. I will strive to put the party into the spotlight and make it top all charts including every poll," declared Sutaj Estok. On behalf of the party, Sutaj Estok wants to guarantee that Voice-SD will remain firmly embedded in the governing coalition, all its 27 lawmakers will support the governing coalition and work towards ensuring better, more peaceful and secure lives for the people. Sutaj Estok underlined that Voice-SD won't "become diluted" within Smer-SD. When asked who will replace Pellegrini at the helm of the House, Sutaj Estok replied that both Economy Minister Denisa Sakova and Investment Minister Richard Rasi (both Voice-SD) are "perfect" in their current roles. "So it's a tough choice, as to who should make the switch to the position of the House Chair," he noted. The Interior Minister is glad that after ten years Slovakia finally has a pro-Slovak president. In his view, the election proved that Slovaks want peace in their country, don't want to get dragged into military conflicts and trust the governing coalition and its actions. "I'm glad that after six months [since the parliamentary election -ed.note], the referendum on the Government ended up even more successful than the actual September election," he said. mf