Editing Jozef Tiso (section)

===Transition to moderate politics and conflict with Czech centralists===
Tiso first ran for parliament in the [[1920 Czechoslovak parliamentary election]]. Although the electoral results from his district were bright spots in what was otherwise a disappointing election for the Ľudáks, the party did not reward him with a legislative seat.{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=71}} Tiso, however, easily claimed one in the 1925 election, which also resulted in a breakthrough victory for the party. Until 1938, he was a fixture in the [[Czecho-Slovakia]]n parliament in [[Prague]].

In 1921 Tiso was appointed [[Monsignor]] by the Vatican, although this appointment lapsed with the later death of [[Pope Benedict XV]].{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=74}} From 1921 to 1923, he served as the secretary to the new Slovak bishop of Nitra, [[Karol Kmeťko]]. During the same period, nationalist political agitation earned Tiso two convictions by the Czechoslovak courts for incitement, one of which resulted in a short incarceration. Displeased, Kmeťko dropped him as secretary in 1923, but retained him as a Professor of Theology. In 1924, Tiso left Nitra to become [[Dean (religion)|dean]] of [[Bánovce nad Bebravou]], in some sense exiled from Nitra for his polarizing political activism.{{sfn|Ward|2013|pp=80–4}} He remained the dean of Bánovce for the rest of his political career, returning there regularly every weekend also as a Czechoslovak minister, and later as president.

In the interwar period, Tiso was a moderate politician and his ability to reach compromises made him a respected mediator of the party. He used more radical rhetoric as a journalist, yet he put aside much of the anti-Jewish rhetoric of his earlier journalistic activities. However, he usually returned to rational, pragmatic arguments in official political negotiations.{{sfn|Kamenec|2013|p=46}} Strongly associating the Slovak identity with the Catholic faith, Tiso sharply criticized the [[anti-clericalism]] of [[Tomáš Masaryk]] and other such Czech "centralists."{{sfn|Ward|2013|p=85}} While the party still operated within a democratic framework, Tiso's colleague and political rival [[Vojtech Tuka]] formed two internal movements to oppose the state or its regime – the first collaborating with [[Hungarian irredentism]] and the second led by pro-fascist [[Rodobrana]]. Tiso did not participate in these.