A well-known politician in Slovakia has given up her seat in Parliament after admitting that she impersonated another lawmaker during a vote.
The legislator, Iveta Radicova, ran for president, a largely ceremonial post, but lost to Ivan Gasparovic in a runoff ballot on April 4.
On Tuesday, she violated parliamentary rules by voting on behalf of another lawmaker who was not present at the time. She did that by simply leaning over and pushing the button at the fellow legislator's empty seat in Parliament.
Radicova acknowledged Thursday that she had "made a mistake" by impersonating the other lawmaker, and she said quitting Parliament was the only way for her to save face.
However, she will remain deputy chairwoman of the opposition center-right party of former Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda.
In the election she lost, Radicova had hoped to become Slovakia's first female president.
