Journal of European Integration History - Centre d'études et de ...

160
Simon GRUBER
The HZDS and November 1989
The attitude of the HZDS towards the November events was conflict-ridden. It was
a mix of half-hearted attempts at appropriation and relativisation. In comparison to
July 17 th, 1992 (Day of the declaration of sovereignty) or September 1 st, 1992 (Day
of the enactment of the constitution) November 17 th, 1989 certainly did not belong
to the days the party particularly strove to anchor in the collective consciousness.
There are a number of reasons that can be mentioned for this. Firstly such a pursuit
would have been rather hopeless, because the actors of 1989 had turned away from
the HZDS in large numbers. Secondly the values which were associated with
“November ´89” were really not a priority for the HZDS: None of the party’s core
issues like the Slovak question or social security stood in the foreground then. Thirdly
the contrast between the November euphoria and the disappointing present which the
opposition so carefully brought up was unpleasant for the HZDS. 56
Mečiar personally played no role in November 1989. According to him, he was
hindered, because at this time he had to bury one of his parents. 57 In any case he
appeared on the political stage for the first time in January 1990, at a time when the
struggle with the old regime was already decided and political engagement no longer
required personal courage, as his opponents often pointed out. The two month delay
pushed him into the company of the much maligned „turncoats”. 58 The HZDS controlled
newspaper “Slovenská republika” made an effort to correct this in that it
smuggled among dozens of photos in a large report about “November ´89” one in
which Mečiar was also to be seen in action. By necessity, in contrast to all the others,
this photo did not go back to 1989, but rather dated from 1991. 59
According to Mečiar the election victory of the HZDS was enough to confirm it
as the “genuine” successor to the VPN. The party’s focus on national self-determination
led to the need to link “November ´89” as closely as possible to the Slovak
independence. Symptomatically the press spokesman of the president of the Parliament
Ivan Gašparovič (HZDS) tried to show in an article “that the 17 th of July 1992
– the date of the sovereignty declaration of the Slovak Republic – is the consequence
of the changes that began on the 17 th November 1989”. 60 After achieving independence,
the HZDS – MP Viliam Hornáček advocated that the “Joyous January” (1993)
be put on a par with the “Velvet November” (1989). 61
However, for the HZDS “November ´89” did not really come together. The Slovak
part of the transition should have been duly accentuated, the continuous Prague custodianship
no less emphasised, the ex-VPN-member Mečiar should be spotlighted in
56. Chceli sme niečo iné, in: Pravda, 19.11.1997.
57. V. MEĆIAR, D. PODRACKÁ, Ľ. ŠAJDOVÁ, Slovenské tabu, Silentium, Bratislava, 2000, p.15.
58. J. BUNČÁK, V. HARMADYOVÁ, Politická zmena v spoločenskej rozprave, Veda, Bratislava,
1996, pp.132-189.
59. Chvíľe, ktoré otvorili cestu k slovenskej samostatnosti, in: Slovenská republika, 17.11.1994; in
addition George Orwell v denníku Slovenská Republika, in: Sme, 20.11.1994.
60. Od 17. novembra po 17. júl, in: Koridor, 20.07.1992.
61. Právo na vlastnú cestu, in: Literárny týždenník, 06.01.1995.