Rasi: I Believe Voice-SD Will Manage to Regain Support It Had in Election

Bratislava, 25 July (TASR) - House Chair Richard Rasi (Vocie-SD) has told TASR in an interview that he's glad the Voice-SD party has managed to cope with the departure of its former chairman and current President Peter Pellegrini. Rasi noted that the departure of a strong personality is always complicated in the Slovak system, where parties are based mainly on their leaders. "Such a strong leader like the current president is missing. On the other hand, there's now room to show teamwork and team spirit, and to show that the high-quality ministers we have and the strong Voice-SD caucus can make up for Pellegrini's departure. If we manage to transform the professional work that our ministers do, which is also visible in their credibility, into awareness among the public, I think we'll regain the support that we had in the election, i.e. 15 percent," said Rasi. Rasi stated that current Voice-SD chairman Matus Sutaj Estok has his support and that the entire presidium stands behind him. "We have a new chairman, leadership and presidium of the party, and we're moving forward as one team. Perhaps the loudest message is that the individual leaning, the force that Peter Pellegrini took us along with, is now being replaced by a collective team spirit," he said. Rasi confirmed for TASR that he himself doesn't have the ambition to become Voice leader. At the same time, Rasi expressed appreciation for the fact that statements that Voice is like another Smer-SD, which opposition representatives have tried to spread, are no longer being heard today. He pointed to the differing views on foreign policy and other issues. ko/df