SNS Won't Accept Any Cabinet Members, Wants to Deepen Cooperation with Them

Bratislava, 14 April (TASR) - The junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) won't be accepting any cabinet members into the party at this time; it aims to deepen cooperation between its nominees and the party's membership base instead, SNS spokesperson Zuzana Skopcova informed TASR on Tuesday, adding that the decision was made by the party's presidium. SNS stated that following a negative experience with the departure of current Tourism and Sport Minister Rudolf Huliak (Independent), it will be more cautious when accepting new members. "The SNS presidium said that efforts to deepen the relationship between the party's membership base and its nominees over the past three years have failed. So, the task ahead of the general election is to improve the coordination of ministers' political outputs and decision-making so that a mutually beneficial connection is created that will help to strengthen the SNS brand and provide an opportunity for independent candidates to run in the next general election together with the SNS membership base," said Skopcova. At the same time, the party's presidium stated that it's interested in strengthening the membership base. However, it's important that the relationship between individual nominees and the party is mutually beneficial, it added. Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a SNS nominee) stated on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) in March that he's submitted an application to SNS in a standard manner and is currently awaiting a decision. He emphasised that he feels support from the membership base, but the stance of SNS chairman Andrej Danko indicates to him that he won't become an SNS member, even though, as a party nominee, he's completely loyal to the party. He rejected speculation that he might join another party. ko/df