an said the decision was made at a party leadership meeting at the weekend. No reasons for the decision were given. Elections are not scheduled to take place for another three years. „The party in the next election would not run on another party‘s ticket,“ KDH spokesman Milan Krajniak told Reuters. The move adds another element of uncertainty to Slovakia‘s heavily fractured party political scene, which is characterised by a multiplicity of parties. The SDK, one of four parties in the reformist coalition government, is itself a five-party umbrella party which was formed to circumvent the terms of a controversial electoral law passed by authoritarian former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar just before last September‘s general elections. Slovak analysts had hoped the formation of SDK would bring greater stability to Slovak politics by uniting the main parties of the right. But rivalry between Dzurinda and the current chairman of the Christian Democrats, Justice Minister Jan Carnogursky, has been a source of tension since the government was formed almost a year ago. Dzurinda last week rejoined the Christian Democrats, which he left to form the SDK, setting the stage for a showdown with Carnogursky. It is widely rumoured that Dzurinda will challenge Carnogursky for the leadership of the Christian Democrats, enabling him to hold the SDK together in some form should his bid be successful. Dzurinda said last week he wanted to change Christian Democratic policies to bring them more into harmony with SDK, of which he will remain chairman.