Elections in Slovakia, cold shower for the West: who wins at the polls

The populist Smer-SD party, which opposes aid to Ukraine, won the legislative elections in Slovakia. The formation of former Prime Minister Robert Fico obtained 23.3% of the votes, ahead of the centrist Progressive Slovakia party (17.03%), after all the votes were counted. Smer is therefore destined to win 42 seats in the Bratislava Parliament, which has 150 members and will therefore need coalition partners to obtain a majority. The left-wing party Hlas-Sd, which emerged in 2020 from an offshoot of Smer, is a potential partner, with a projection of 27 seats. HLAS is led by Peter Pellegrini, who became Prime Minister of Slovakia in 2018, after Fico had to resign following national protests against the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend.

Pellegrini has publicly stated that it is not a good idea to have two former prime ministers in a single government, but “this”, he added, “does not mean that such a coalition is impossible”. The two parties will be able to join the Slovak National Party, with which Fico has been allied in the past, which is expected to win 10 seats, for a parliamentary majority of 79 seats.

The next Slovak parliament will also include the centrist Olano party of former prime minister Igor Matovic, in office in 2020-2021, involved in a fight with a Smer member during the heated election campaign. Olano presented himself at the head of a three-party coalition that is expected to win 16 seats. The centrist Christian Democrats and the right-wing SAS party also won enough votes to win seats in parliament. Fico’s victory displeases many in the West: in recent days there have been widespread accusations of being pro-Putin.

Source: IL Tempo

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