Slovakian elections may bring changes

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - For Zuzana Slavkovska an economics student at the university in Bratislava, it seemed yesterday morning that a fog was lifting.

"We were so isolated," she said, as she walked the winding, narrow streets of this city's old town where sidewalk cafes and high-fashion boutiques abut Gothic archways. "Now, maybe we can take our place in Europe."

Just an hour east of Vienna and within sight of the Austrian border, this small central European capital had fallen into a self-created cocoon, failing to make the progress toward European integration that some of its neighbors had made in the last four years.

The United States and the European Union had repeatedly criticized the current government, led by Vladimir Meciar, saying it had trampled democracy.

And Slovakia's applications for membership in NATO and the EU were shelved.

But following national elections over the weekend there is a sense, especially among the young of this striving city, that Slovakia is on the verge of a new era with a new government.

"People were not living in a good mood," said Ivan Telepcak who is doing compulsory military service. "It's very important that a good change comes out of the election. I think we're very optimistic now."

Slovakia is likely to have a new coalition government in the next month after the announcement yesterday morning of official preliminary election results, which showed that a likely coalition of four opposition parties would command 93 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

At a news conference yesterday, Mikulas Dzurinda, the leader of the largest of the opposition parties, the Slovak Democratic Coalition, said negotiations to form a new government have already begun.

He spoke like a prime minister-in-waiting, saying his priorities were jobs, reducing crime and getting the country's application for EU membership on track.

The current government, led by Meciar and his party, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, refused to concede defeat.

Meciar's party remained the largest in parliament with 43 seats, and officials said they would at least try to form a coalition government. But their pronouncements lacked confidence.

"We accept the results of the election," said Augustin Huska, deputy chair of the parliament and a member of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. "Our party won, but it has certain signs of a Pyrrhic victory."

But yesterday Jozef Migas, the leader of the Party of the Democratic Left, the third-largest party, said "the creation of a government with (the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia) is unacceptable for us," effectively ensuring the formation of a new government coalition.

Meciar, who had said he would leave politics before he would go into opposition, made no appearances yesterday. The populist figure has dominated Slovak politics since the country of 5.5 million people became an independent state in 1993 after the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia.

While Meciar's political future is unclear, he bestowed a looming financial crisis on the incoming government.

According to one Western diplomat, there is virtually no money in government coffers for the remaining months of the current budget year.

The Slovak currency, the koruna, is dropping to the bottom of its fluctuation band, amid fears it may have to be devalued. Government credit has been downgraded to junk-bond status by Standard & Poor's.

Slovakia now has one of the highest interest rates in Europe and the country's robust economic growth is beginning to look very fragile in the face of severe budget and trade deficits.

That has led to some speculation here that Meciar, in opposition, will benefit from his own financial misrule and return triumphant when any new government collapses under the weight of an economic crisis.

"The economic situation in this country is very bad and, of course, we are afraid that this will cause problems for us, but we have to deal with it," said Dzurinda.

Western diplomats, however, said the new government, after emphasizing its commitment to democratic change, would likely be well received by international financial institutions if it faced a severe fiscal crisis.

09-28-98