If ethnic Hungarian voters cast their ballots in great numbers at the upcoming local elections scheduled for December 1 and 15, two of the Hungarian Coalition Party's (HCP) four candidates running for the Head of County position may win, said József Kvarda HCP Vice President responsible for local governments who is also running for the post in Trnava/Nagyszombat County [see report of October 13, 2001]. However the two-round voting system is not favorable for HCP candidates because in none of the four counties do Hungarians form a clear majority as a result of recent redistricting. Therefore, the prospect of ideologically incompatible Slovak parties forming temporary alliances to out-vote Hungarian politicians is a serious possibility, as prior experience indicates. The Vladimír Meciar-led Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the extreme nationalist Slovak National Party have conducted anti-Hungarian propaganda, attempting to discredit ethnic Hungarian candidates. For example, HZDS issued a newsletter which included a leaflet with pictures of József Kvarda saying that if a HCP candidate wins he will establish a greater Komárno/Komárom County with a Hungarian majority, rewrite history books on Greater Hungary, discriminate ethnic Slovaks in public administration and punish members of the Konstantín University’s Senate who rejected the creation of a Hungarian faculty. Kvarda said HZDS's allegations are provocation against the Hungarian minority. [ Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony) November 24 and 28 2001]

A government committee led by Education State Secretary László Szigeti continued discussions with the Nitra/Nyitra-based Konstantín University's leadership regarding fulfillment of the government decree proposing that an independent Hungarian-language faculty be established [see report of January 24, 2001]. The Finance Ministry may withdraw the 10 million Slovak Korunas (approx. US$ 215,100) subsidy allocated by the government for this purpose if the university is unable to spend it on the original purpose. After the meeting, Szigeti told the Hungarian-language daily, Új Szó, that both parties agreed on the creation of an independent institution for the purpose of training Hungarian professionals. However, opinions differed greatly on the structure of such an institution, said Szigeti. The ethnic Hungarian official is optimistic about the prospects for a Hungarian-language faculty at the university beginning Fall 2002. The next meeting is scheduled for December. [ Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony) November 15, 2001]