Former PM Pellegrini leaving Smer-SD

Former prime minister Peter Pellegrini, who took Smer-SD into the February general election as its election leader, announced in Banska Bystrica on Wednesday that he's leaving the party despite allegedly receiving an offer from Smer leader Robert Fico to take over at the helm of Smer. Pellegrini said that Smer "announced a responsible change" before the general election, and he "believed in the change". Nevertheless, he claimed, the party didn't seem to be willing to keep its promise in the end.