The move to independence in 1993 was more a result of Czech than Slovak policies. Slovak leader Vladimφr Meciar was bargaining with Prague not for independence, but for more power within a federation. However, Klaus, the Czech leader, offered Slovakia continued membership of the federation on Czech terms or else separation.
Slovakian politics are now in flux. Parties that once represented Slovak interests within Czechoslovakia are having to define new objectives in a mostly Slovak context. In March 1994, Meciar was ousted from the premiership in a no-confidence vote. However, in elections later that year his HZDS again won over a third of the vote. The Hungarian minority has its own parties, but the 300,000 Gypsies have no official representation.
