Left-wing populist Fico: Pro-Russian party wins parliamentary election in Slovakia

As of: 9:45 am | Reading Time: 2 minutes

EContrary to early predictions, the left-wing populist Social Democratic Party of former long-time prime minister Robert Fico has won parliamentary elections in Slovakia. According to the preliminary results of the Election Commission in Bratislava from Sunday morning, after almost 99 percent of the electoral districts were counted, the opposition party “Direction – Slovak Social Democracy” (Smar-SSD) won 23.37 percent of the votes.

This meant that Fico’s pro-Russian party was unshakably ahead of the liberal “Progressive Slovakia” (PS). Munnetra Party, which is still not even represented in Parliament, was second with 16.86 percent. Two o’clock on Saturday evening Post-election polls were released by television channels Saw PS just before Smer SSD. Party leader Michal Simecka, formerly a member of the European Parliament, felt briefly victorious. Provisionally 68 percent votes were recorded.

However, it will not be easy for Fico to form a coalition with a sufficient majority. The more liberal Social Democrats may now tip the scale under former prime minister Peter Pellegrini. The so-called “Voice – Social Democracy” (Hlas-SD) came third with 15.03 percent. It split from Fico’s Social Democrats and has been an option as a coalition partner for both Fico and Simecka.

Arms supply to Ukraine was a key issue in the election campaign

Some 4.4 million citizens were called to elect a new parliament on Saturday. An interim government made up of technocrats and civil servants has been in office since May, after the fall of the centre-right government. The election was seen as a sign of democracy in Slovakia and its stance towards Russia and the European Union. The NATO country directly borders Ukraine and has been one of Kiev’s staunchest political and military supporters, including supplying MiG fighter jets. However, Fico had announced that if he returned to power, he would end the unpopular arms aid program.

Figo was head of the Slovak government from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. In 2018, he was forced to resign after journalist John Kuciak and his fiancee were murdered. Guciak explores the connections between the Italian Mafia and Fico’s ruling party. However, in the years that followed, Slovak politics was far from peaceful; There have been a total of four Prime Ministers since 2018.

The procession which started on Saturday morning ended in the evening. Instead of the scheduled 10 p.m., the last polling stations closed three-quarters of an hour later. The reason for this is the problem in individual polling stations where Election Commission members are infirm. According to the law, interruptions in voting must be compensated by extending the voting time accordingly.