Bittó Cigániková announced the end of the SaS, where she grew up politically, on Thursday in the National Council – symbolically in a Saskatchewan green dress and with tears in her eyes. She is saddened by the current situation. “One is sorry that the party has changed, that it no longer has a home, that everything is suddenly different,” she commented. The proposal for her expulsion was submitted by her former close colleague, with whom she once formed a parliamentary tandem, Miroslav Žiak.
In the first place bread topics
For many years in the SaS, the field of healthcare belonged to her, in which she decided to delve even deeper a few years ago. She started studying nursing and works in the National Institute of Children’s Diseases in addition to her parliamentary work. In one of the last interviews, she boasted that Boris Kollár, the chairman of the We Are Family movement, also sought medical advice from her.
In addition to her, doctor and MP Tomáš Szalay has been interpreting health care for voters in recent years – each in a tone close to the other. “Ms. Cigániková was able to be more “viral”, perhaps even controversial, to draw attention to herself, Mr. Szalay has a different style, but his reputation is perceived and recognized by SaS voters. He is a person whom SaS can send to the executive, but the votes must probably be brought to SaS by other movers,” assessed the political scientist from Prešov.
It is questionable who will get other topics from her portfolio. In the party, Bittó Cigániková also represented the rights of women and sexual minorities, as well as church interventions in medical decisions. Cirner believes that, after the new one, they will only be somewhere in the background, and the first place will be occupied by bread topics with an emphasis on economic solutions and an economic program.
“SaS is moving more into the political center and its flagship will be economic and economic topics, because solutions in these areas are expected from SaS and the voters also expect them. Topics such as the rule of law or agriculture, where SaS also has strong leaders, will be a bonus,” the expert thinks.
First Sulík, then Bittó Cigániková
“Spring cleaning” in SaS started last summer. The current head of the party, Branislav Gröhling, called on his predecessor at the time to sort things out with his son Filip, who insulted people because of their appearance and distanced himself from his statements. Sulík Sr. did not do so and Gröhling decided to act. He released information on the air that he would no longer allow the founder of the party to be a SaS candidate. Sulík’s fate was sealed by the March Congress, which definitively rejected his candidacy.
There was also another cut, which indicated that Bittó Cigániková’s future in SaS would not last long either. The deputy openly criticized the current chairman for the way the party was run and for the deviation from “Saxon” topics. The delegates first took away her post in the Republican Council, and after months of tension, she was finally expelled from the party this week. The reason was supposed to be the long-term denigration of the party in the media, which, according to Žiak, lasted at least from September 2025, as well as statements about leaving for Kollár or for foreign candidates.
Photo: TASR, Jaroslav Novák
SR Politics SaS Congress Republic Council BAX SaS chairman Branislav Gröhling and former SaS member Jana Bittó Cigániková talk after the press conference after the party congress in Bratislava on Saturday, March 7, 2026.
Bittó Cigániková thinks that they wanted to exclude her from the party because of Gröhling’s criticism, she told journalists on Thursday in the parliament. When Pravda tried to contact her before the weekend, she said she would not comment until Wednesday and “needs some distance.” He plans to appear in front of the cameras on Wednesday morning.
Cirner believes that in SaS they only eliminated and prevented what needed to be avoided “anyway”. “It is a clearing of the table, an attempt at unity without internal friction before the elections. The party must speak with one voice, they cannot waste their energy on disputes when they need to focus on the elections and at least publicly pull together. Questioning the party’s leadership and policy from within before the elections is not pleasant for the party,” the political scientist said.
Will SaS also lose its face by throwing out familiar faces? “Identities change, adapt to public opinion, the surrounding world and are also situational. Everything can be “sold” to voters, they seem to be relatively satisfied, SaS has definitely read potential voters and targets other groups,” notes Cirner.
Will he take liberal voters?
According to Cirner, the end of Bittó Cigániková will not be a major shock for SaS. He believes that the turning point could have been the departure of Sulík, but the SaS voters partially changed and the others apparently accepted his departure. “Of course, new competition in the form of Sulík’s candidacy for some other political party would also threaten the preferences of SaS,” he thinks.
According to him, SaS will be partly different before next year’s parliamentary elections than it was in autumn 2023, because it is made up of different faces. The latest reinforcements include Alojz Hlina (formerly KDH), Martina Holečková (formerly KDH) and former police chief Štefan Hamran. Even in the last election period, Sulík was joined by Mária Kolíková, Vladimíra Marcinková, Vladimír Ledecký (all formerly Za lúdí) and Juraj Krúpa (formerly OĽaNO).
“It is largely different in terms of leadership and the personalities who represent it. Some came from Za lúdí, others from KDH, others are given more space than under Sulík. It will still be a party of economic liberals, but also of moderate conservatives,” the political scientist explained.
According to Cirner, liberal voters still have someone to vote for, be it PS, SaS, and with a “squinted eye” the Democrats, among whom, according to him, there are also liberal-minded politicians. “They compete with each other, each of these parties also has moderate conservatives, all of these parties are straddled to appeal to different voters,” he pointed out.
Will he end up with Tarab or Kollár?
Information on the website of the National Council indicates that, despite the expulsion, Bittó Cigániková is still a member of the SaS parliamentary club. However, she herself assumes that if she is not good enough for the party, she will not be good enough for the club either. “We’ll see what happens,” she said Thursday.
Sulík, who left high politics in autumn 2024, is trying to support her former colleague. Bittó Cigániková connects her future mainly with him. According to her statements from March, she does not feel good about her own party project. According to her, the new project would divide voters and some parties could remain at the gates of the parliament.
It has been speculated for a long time where Bittó Cigániková could land after leaving SaS. She herself did not want to talk about it yet. We are a family was mentioned as one of the alternatives in the corridors. Kollar spoke to the deputy this week as well. “I called Boris yesterday (Wednesday, editor’s note), but not because of joining the party, but because several former colleagues are calling me and trying to support me in some way,” she told journalists.
KDH deputy František Majerský, who is also a member of the health committee, expressed his words of support in the corridor of the parliament. The MP expressed empathy that leaving the party must be difficult, especially if she was one of the long-term members.
“I wanted to show that KDH and Saxony, respectively a liberal and a conservative, can talk about various topics quite comfortably,” she emphasized. However, the political scientist does not expect Bittó Cigániková to end up with the conservatives. “There are many possibilities, but I would guess Boris Kollar,” he concluded.
