VZCZCXRO4043
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHSL #0401 1431113
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231113Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9856
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000401 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA,S COMMUNISTS DON,T WANT TO BE IN 
GOVERNMENT 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. Jozef Sevc, Chairman of the Communist Party 
of Slovakia (KSS), spoke at a sparsely attended breakfast 
meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce on May 
¶17. Sevc acknowledged that KSS faces an uphill struggle to 
get the 5% of the vote necessary to be in the next 
Parliament. Even if the party does make it into Parliament, 
KSS does not plan or wish to be a member of the governing 
coalition that will emerge after the election. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Sevc said he was surprised to receive an invitation 
to speak from the American Chamber of Commerce, but that he 
accepted because he thought it would be a good opportunity to 
show he is not a "red devil," and also for him to see that 
American-style capitalists are not "black devils." (Comment: 
Unfortunately for Sevc, and to the evident embarrassment of 
the organizers, he did not get to meet any "American-style 
capitalist" at the breakfast. Unlike other AmCham breakfasts 
that have featured more main-stream party leaders and have 
been well attended, only Poloff, a Pol FSN and the organizers 
heard Sevc. End comment.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sevc spent the better part of his prepared remarks 
trying to put the past behind him. He acknowledged mistakes 
had been made by the Communists in the past, though it was 
unclear if he meant throughout their time in power or only in 
¶1989. Sevc said it was not his wish to "return to socialism" 
but that the role of the state must be increased, the 
redistribution of wealth must be more just, and 
privatizations must be put in order. Sevc said KSS respects 
"ownership relations" but wants to introduce "mixed 
ownership" as well. (Comment. "Ownership relations" is a KSS 
byword for "property rights." A "mixed ownership" presumably 
would be a public-private partnership. End comment.) 
 
¶4. (U) According to Sevc the economy should serve the 
interests of the social state. KSS agrees with all other 
parties on the important role of education, and like the 
front-running Smer party, insists that University education 
must remain free of charge. KSS would like the health care 
system to revert to its pre-reform version as they find the 
reforms of the second Dzurinda government to have been 
purposeless. KSS remains opposed to Slovakia,s NATO 
membership and believes the money could have been used for a 
better purpose. 
 
¶5. (U) KSS feels politically closest to Smer, although Sevc 
criticized the front-running party for being too close to 
business. Sevc admitted that Smer,s merger with the Party of 
the Democratic Left (SDL) had probably been an advantage for 
them, "but every stick has two ends." Sevc said that it is 
not KSS,s goal to join the next government. Slovakia needs a 
period of political stability and KSS,s plans are to build 
support for the long term and future campaigns. KSS hopes to 
fill a role as a watchdog in parliament. 
 
¶6. (U) Sevc was refreshingly candid about his party,s 
limitations and honest about its possibilities. His goal is 
to find just 180,000 voters. (Comment. A party needs 5% of 
valid votes cast to make it to Parliament. 180,000 is just 
shy of 5% of registered voters, but is far more votes than 
will be required given low expected turnout. In 2002 KSS,s 
181,872 votes represented 6.32% of valid votes cast.) 
 
7 (U) When referring to evident obstacles that KSS faces, 
including an aging voter-base, association with past 
repressions and no possibility of support from entrepreneurs 
and city dwellers, Sevc repeatedly said "we do not try to 
hide this." Sevc said it is hard to run a campaign with no 
funds and when you have nothing to offer voters for their 
support except "a warm hand." He said their campaigning is 
being carried out mostly in person, door-to-door in eastern 
villages and among friends, family and sportsmen. KSS 
supports and tries to find voters among small and medium size 
entrepreneurs. Sevc said they used to count small enterprises 
as having up to 50 employees but now find firms with up to 
500 employees also acceptable. 
 
¶8. (U) When asked where the money for his programs would come 
from, Sevc avoided a direct response but did say KSS will not 
talk about increasing taxes because this would threaten their 
support and no wise party would do so before elections. 
VALLEE