Vit Barta elected Public Affairs leader

The Public Affairs Party has overwhelmingly elected Vit Barta its new leader. Mr. Barta, a former businessman who set up the party in 2001 and who was long considered its de-facto leader, was elected on the strength of 80 out of 98 votes. He said he was ready to take up the party banner with dedication and humility and to fulfill those goals which Public Affairs had failed to meet during its time in government. The party walked out of the ruling coalition last spring following a corruption scandal involving Mr. Barta and ideological differences with its coalition partners. Its intention was to bring down the centre-right government but a small faction around Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake rebelled and stayed on under a different name.