Populist social democratic party Smer by former pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert FicoHe won the early general elections held in Slovakia this Saturday with 23.3 percent of the votes, according to full counts.
Initial predictions based on exit polls had initially given the likely winner to PS, the progressive pro-European party of European Parliament vice-president Michal Simecka; he eventually came in second with only 17.1% of the vote.
The third party was the social democrats He moderated “The Voice” (Hlas) received 99.5% of the vote, ahead of Fico’s former ally, former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, with 14.9%.
After a high turnout of 68.51% compared to 65.80% in the last elections, a total of seven parties entered the National Council (Parliament) with 5.6%, including the nationalist SNS, which is currently part of coalitions with the Socialist Party . Democrats in the past.
social democracy, With the social message of citizen defenseThe party, which has been harassed for high inflation as well as anti-immigration rhetoric and criticism of aid to Ukraine, especially on the Smer side, has rapidly increased its votes, which only reached 18% in the 2020 elections.
Formations on the left of the political spectrum, Fico’s Smer and Pellegrini’s La Voz, co-religionists for two decades, currently account for 37% of the vote, and a third party like the SNS would be sufficient to form a stable coalition.
In the case of Simecka’s progressives, their natural coalition partners would be the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) liberals, who received 6.3% of the vote.
Other lists such as former ruler OLaNo, with 8%, or the conservative KHD partyIt could also join the PS with 6.8% of the vote, although analysts predict it will be more complex and make a stable coalition difficult.
Smer was the dominant political force in the country until 2018, when the murder of an investigative journalist who condemned relations between organized crime and the upper echelons of power caused a wave of anger that forced Fico’s resignation.
Given the slow pace of scrutiny following the closure of schools at 22:00 local time last night (20:00 GMT yesterday), the first public reaction to the candidates is expected this Sunday.