Victory in Slovakia’s early parliamentary elections apparently goes to Progressive Slovakia (PS), Oxford graduate and European Parliament vice-president Michal Simecka. According to a post-election poll by the most-watched private TV channel Markiza, carried out by the renowned polling agency Focus, 23.5% of voters voted for the young liberal and pro-EU and Ukraine party on Saturday.
According to media group RTVS, it was 19.97 percent. The social democratic Smer party of left-wing populist and former prime minister Robert Fico came in second with 21.9 percent and 19.09 percent respectively, meaning it likely missed out on its long-awaited comeback. Fico, who resigned five and a half years ago after the murder of a journalist following large-scale demonstrations, wanted to dissuade the EU and NATO country from its previously strictly pro-European and pro-Ukrainian course.
However, the numbers were still considered preliminary and the final results could differ significantly from the results of the post-election survey, observers warned. Simecka himself was cautious in his initial reaction. The predictions look promising, but the results have not yet been recorded, Simecka said, according to the TASR news agency.
Forming a government will likely be difficult. Former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (47), who split from Ficos Smer, is seen as the kingmaker by the Social Democrat Hlas (votes), who came in third place according to exit polls. He is considered more moderate than Smer. According to Focus, Hlas received 12.2% of the votes. In an initial reaction, Pellegrini did not want to speculate on who Hlas would enter into a coalition with.
Seven to eight parties could have reached the National Council. This probably also includes the populist Ordinary People (Olano) of Igor Matovic, with 8 percent, which is a very narrow result. They ran as an electoral alliance and therefore needed 7% to return to the National Council. Matovic and his Olano were considered mainly responsible for the three and a half years of political chaos in Slovakia.
However, several parties with a preliminary result close to the 5% barrier may still fail to enter parliament.
Around 4.4 million citizens could vote. The elections were seen as a directional choice for Slovakia’s democracy and its stance towards Russia and the EU. Fico announced that he would stop military aid to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian war of aggression. The NATO country gave its neighbor MiG fighters, among other things. Furthermore, Slovakia, with a population of around 5.5 million, welcomed more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
The election, which began on Saturday morning, ended late at night. Instead of 10pm as scheduled, the last polling stations closed three quarters of an hour later. The reason for this was the death at one of the polling stations in Povazska Bystrica, in central Slovakia, and health problems of a member of the electoral commission. According to the law, interruptions in voting must be compensated by a corresponding extension of the voting period.