SLOVAKIA'S democratic image and its prospects of joining NATO suffered severe blows at the weekend when a crucial double referendum collapsed because of last minute government manipulation of the ballot.
An overwhelming majority of Slovaks boycotted the vote in protest at the move by the populist Prime Minister, Mr Vladimir Meciar, to delete a question from the ballot papers. The Referendum Commission yesterday announced a 9.6 per cent turnout and declared all votes invalid.
The latest manoeuvring by Mr Meciar, a controversial figure repeatedly criticised by Western governments, diplomats, and human rights watchers, stunned the opposition and the media.
The referendum asked Slovaks if they wanted to join NATO and also whether the head of state should be elected by plebiscite rather than as at present by parliament. The ballot paper featured four questions, three on NATO and one on the presidency.
Mr Meciar opposed the presidential poll, since an unfavourable result would jeopardise his own chances of winning the office next year. Despite losing two appeals to the constitutional court, the Meciar government simply and suddenly deleted the question from the ballot papers distributed last Thursday for the referendums on Friday and Saturday.
As western diplomats spoke of a tragedy for Slovak democracy, President Michal Kovac and other senior figures boycotted the vote, and the independent referendum commission said it would start legal proceedings against the government. The opposition Democratic Party charged Mr Meciar with ushering in "the twilight of democracy" in Slovakia. The front page headline in the bestselling newspaper Novy Cas read: "Referendum: Fraud, Chaos, Scandal".
. The Czech president, Mr Vaclav Havel, yesterday launched a blistering attack on the government of Mr Vaclav Klaus, coming close to demanding the prime minister's resignation after three cabinet ministers quit at the weekend. His intervention confronted Mr Klaus with his biggest challenge since he led the negotiations to break up Czechoslovakia in 1992.