VZCZCXRO3768
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHSL #0461/01 3021646
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291646Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0234
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 0274

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA'S ROSS PEROT: RICHARD SULIK 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 176 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000461  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Richard Sulik's Freedom and Solidarity party 
(SaS) was the unexpected success of the European Parliamentary 
elections earlier this year.  Though SaS failed to win a MEP 
slot, it managed to win 4.8 percent of the vote after less than 
a year of existence and an inexpensive, privately financed 
campaign, focused primarily on the internet and in Bratislava. 
This result surprised many, and was the first indication that 
Sulik could be a serious player.  We met recently with Sulik to 
learn more about his priorities and strategy for the upcoming 
regional and national elections.  Sulik stressed that his aim is 
the sustainable establishment of a party with transparency and 
quasi-libertarian values.  He told us that he will not form any 
coalitions prior to the elections, even if failing to do so will 
prevent him from winning a seat in the national elections.  He 
and his members are young, and are looking at things from the 
long-term perspective.  End summary. 
 
Membership 
 
¶2. (U) SaS currently has only 182 members, of whom only 11 
percent are women. Sulik has targeted liberal, well-educated, 
urban elites.  50 percent of SaS members are located in 
Bratislava, and the other 50 percent are evenly scattered 
throughout the other seven regions of the country.  76 percent 
of the SaS members are college graduates.  55 percent of SaS 
members are between 18-34 years of age. Only 16 percent are over 
45 years of age. 94 percent of the current SaS members have 
never been members of another political party.  In order to 
become a member, each individual has to have a personal 
interview and sign an affidavit that he or she has never been 
affiliated with the communists or a collaborator with the StB, 
and has to describe how he or she will be active in the party. 
 
Financing 
 
¶3. (U) When queried about his party's financing, Sulik handed us 
a list of all of his members and their financial contributions, 
ranging from 30 euros to 10,000 euros. He said that in addition 
to members' contributions, he receives in-kind donations from 
some businesses. For example, the space for Sulik's much-talked 
about billboards was donated by a local advertising agency, so 
his party only has to pay for the production of the posters. 
Sulik's billboards have very clever and memorably catchy 
slogans.  One of the Embassy favorites shows a simple graph of 
Slovakia's economic decline with the slogan "Thank you, 
Bolsheviks!"  Sulik said that his primary goal in the 2010 
parliamentary elections is to cross the 3 percent threshold, 
which will entitle SaS to financing from the state budget.  With 
this foundation, his party will then concentrate on future 
elections. 
 
Referendum 
 
¶4. (U) Sulik and his party have developed an innovative way to 
get publicity for their principles despite their lack of deep 
pockets. They have developed a petition to call for a general 
referendum for consideration of six issues. These include 
reducing the number of members of parliament from 150 to 100, 
cancelling payments to state-run media, canceling immunity for 
parliamentarians, limiting the price of government cars to 
40,000 euros, creating a system for online elections, and making 
changes to the press law to eliminate the "right of reply" 
(reftel). 
 
¶5. (U) Sulik told us that he currently has 264,000 signatures on 
the petition, and needs 350,000 total before he can submit it to 
President Gasparovic. The President is required by law to 
announce the referendum within 30 days of the receipt of the 
petition, and has to call for the referendum within 90 days of 
his announcement.  However, the referendum cannot be called 
within 90 days of the next election, but it can be held on the 
election day itself.  In order for the referendum to be valid, 
there must be at least 50 percent voter turnout. 
 
¶6. (U) Since elections are scheduled for June 2010, Sulik hopes 
to have the paperwork with all the required signatures 120 days 
before, so that he forces President Gasparovic to either call 
the referendum on the election day, or to not call it, which 
would stir up controversy just before the election.  With this 
strategy, Sulik hopes to maximize his chances to reach the 50 
percent turnout (for context, Slovakia's referendum on EU 
accession received only 52 percent voter turnout, of which 92 
percent supported EU accession) or capitalize on the ire of 
350,000 citizens whose signatures were disregarded by the 
political establishment, in violation of the constitution. 
 
Platform 
 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000461  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (U) As an economist, successful entrepreneur, and tested 
manager, Sulik has some compelling economic ideas.  His current 
pet idea is the simplification of the social benefits 
contributions system.  In Sulik's opinion, the system is 
convoluted and should be streamlined to increase contributions 
and decrease bureaucracy.  His proposal is to introduce, in 
addition to the 19 percent flat income tax, a 10 percent 
contribution for social benefits (pensions) and 8 percent for 
health benefits.  However, SaS must still work on its social 
policy if it wishes to have broader appeal.  Sulik said that he 
believes the three biggest challenges Slovakia faces are the 
social benefits system, the state of the judicial sector, and 
the Roma.  He said he will continue to work on the recruitment 
of women and other experts in these last two fields. 
 
Regional Elections 
 
¶8. (U) Sulik said SaS has 275 candidates for regional elections 
running in 85 of the 90 districts.  Only 66 of these candidates 
are actually SaS members.  Each candidate must fill out a form 
describing his or her past political activity (no communists 
allowed) and must pledge to register themselves on the Fair-Play 
Alliance Politikaopen.sk website where politicians disclose 
their finances and business connections. 
 
¶9. (U) Regional elections are important for SaS's future.  If 
SaS makes a respectable showing, it will demonstrate to 
potential voters in the national election that SaS's European 
Parliamentary election performance was not a fluke.  Voter 
turn-out in regional elections has historically been low, which 
allows parties with enthusiastic, mobilized voters an 
opportunity to capitalize.  If SaS fails to clear at least the 3 
percent threshold in regional elections, it will not bode well 
for their performance in the parliamentary elections next year, 
as would-be voters would likely vote for one of the more 
established parties, so as not to waste their vote on a party 
that will not make it to parliament. 
 
Richard Sulik Bio Note 
 
¶10.  (U) Sulik, age 41, is the so-called father of the flat tax 
in Slovakia.  In 1990 he established a Slovak Kinko's equivalent 
called FaxCopy.  He reportedly sold that company for over 5 
million euros.  As a graduate student, he wrote his thesis 
arguing for the imposition of a flat tax in Slovakia.  In 2002, 
he became an advisor for then-Minister of Finance Ivan Miklos, 
and lobbied for the flat tax. Miklos agreed.  In 2003 the flat 
tax was approved, and has been in effect since January 1, 2004. 
From 2004-2006, Sulik took on the task of reforming Bratislava's 
disastrous waste management system, which he did with aplomb. 
He briefly served as an advisor to current Minister of Finance 
Pociatek, but left the Ministry in 2007. 
 
Comment 
 
¶11.  (U) As Sulik himself says, his members are generally from 
the young, elite Bratislava business class.  They have creative 
ideas, catchy marketing, and time on their side.  They use the 
internet more savvily than anyone else on the political scene 
here, and are publicly committed to transparency, all of which 
we think are essential elements of their potential success.  We 
believe SaS has a good shot at crossing the three percent 
threshold in the national elections next June, but that will be 
easier to predict after next month's regional elections. 
 
¶12. (U)  Some call Sulik the "Ross Perot" of Slovakia, and like 
Perot, he irritates the political establishment from which he 
appears to be siphoning off votes.  In Slovakia, that is the 
party of former Prime Minister Dzurinda, the Democratic and 
Christian Union (SDKU), whose electorate is also fairly socially 
liberal and forward-thinking on economic issues.  If Sulik and 
SaS show that they pose a serious threat to SDKU's numbers next 
June, we can expect there to be much more scrutiny of Sulik, as 
his success would play into Prime Minister Fico's hands by 
weakening his strongest opponemt.  End Comment. 
EDDINS