SDKU-DS members Lucia Žitňanská, Miroslav Beblavý and Magdalena Vášáryová are leaving the party. The trio announced their decision at the SDKU-DS Presidium's session held on Thursday evening.
In May 2012, Žitňanská lost the battle for the SDKU-DS top post to Pavol Frešo and subsequently teamed up with Beblavy to found a project called 'We're Creating Slovakia'. This initiative didn't sit well with other powerbrokers and members of the party and the duo had to explain their actions to the SDKU-DS Presidium. Both Žitňanská and Beblavy emerged from the six-hour session without any punishment, with Frešo declaring afterwards that Žitňanská enjoys his full trust. Meanwhile, the We Are Creating Slovakia initiative quietly fizzled out. “It's a loss for Slovakia, for SDKU-DS and the whole centre-right political scene. I'm convinced that if this decision were up to voters, they would surely not agree with such a move,” claimed Frešo after the SDKU Presidium session on late Thursday, where the trio announced their decision. “We told them how we feel and all of us expressed a wish that this departure takes place in a cultivated manner unprecedented on Slovak political scene. We have an interest in this being civilised,” added Frešo.
