Slovakia Election Results 2023: All your need to know about it is :To elect members of the National Council, Slovakia will conduct early parliamentary elections on September 30, 2023. According to results from more than 88% of the over 6,000 voting locations reported by the Slovak Statistics Office, former prime minister Robert Fico and his socialist Smer, or Direction, party were in the lead with 23.7% of the vote. With 15.6% of the vote on Saturday, the liberal, pro-Western Progressive Slovakia party emerged in a far-off second position. In the first week of October 2023, the exit Slovakia Election Results are likely to be released.
Slovakia Election Results
Pro-Western liberals and left-wing former prime minister Robert Fico are engaged in a bitterly contested race for the Slovakian parliament, and Fico has vowed to halt Slovakia’s military support to the neighboring Ukraine. Final polls showed a tie between the two parties, and the winner was expected to get the first chance to try to form a government to replace Slovakia’s existing caretaker administration. In October, the election results will be released.
Following the overthrow of the conservative cabinet led by Eduard Heger of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLANO) party, Slovakia will have early parliamentary elections on September 30, 2023. There are fears regarding Slovakia’s support for Ukraine and its future in the Euro-Atlantic if Robert Fico’s Direction-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) is reinstated as the country’s government as a result of the election results.
What is the electoral process?
Unless early elections are called, the 150 members of Slovakia’s National Council are chosen through elections that are held every four years. Prior to the election, parties or coalitions in Slovakia publish a list of candidates, from which voters may select up to four. A proportional representation system is what this is. To win any seats in the National Council, parties must earn more than 5% of the vote, and coalitions must receive more than 7% of the vote.
Who is Robert Fico?
Robert Fico is the leader of the center-left party Smer-SD. He served as Slovakia’s prime minister twice, from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He resigned following the 2018 deaths of investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kunrová. Widespread protests against high-level corruption were started in Bratislava as a result of this incident.
Two of Fico’s key government aides, according to Kuciak, have links to the ‘Ndrangheta organized crime group through their enterprises. Since March 2023, despite Smer-SD’s resignation in 2018, Fico’s party has remained in the lead in the polls.
What do the polls say?
Polls indicate that Fico’s Smer-SD is still predicted to triumph and seize parliamentary power. According to current forecasts, Fico has three coalition options, one of which would have a constitutional majority if Smer-SD, Hlas, SNS, and We Are Family united. Current polls indicate a 1-3% spread between Smer-SD and Progressive Slovakia (PS), the liberal contender for the primary. A sizable section of the electorate in Slovakia casts ballots during election week. The race is so close that it could end up winning.
Highly motivated individuals are those that want to escape Fico or witness Fico 2.0. Will it be sufficient? Second only to Bulgaria in terms of pro-Russian sentiment and lack of knowledge, the Slovak population is located in Central and Eastern Europe. Fico and his pals could take advantage of this. The other parties’ capacity to form a government will be dependent on Smer-SD and PS’s ability to tie first. This is especially true with PS, which has less possibilities for coalitions than Smer-SD. Andrej Kiska, a former president, has asked people to support other parties with similar ideologies, some of which are polling at about 5%.
The populist ex-PM vowing to cut Ukraine’s support
Slovakia has been Ukraine’s ardent and steadfast ally, lending it helicopters, surface-to-air missiles, and even its whole fleet of retired MiG-29 fighter aircraft. The liberal Progressive Slovakia party seems to have won the election based on exit polls, with an outlook for a “open, tolerant, cosmopolitan society” and a history of promoting liberal viewpoints inside the EU on issues like LGBTQ+ rights and environmental legislation.
What Does this Election Mean for Slovakia’s Euro-Atlantic Future?
After September 30th, the right-wing, anti-NATO, and anti-EU Fico has a solid chance of forming a government. Fico, if elected prime minister, may keep his word and stop Slovakia’s aid to Ukraine. Fico backed EU sanctions on Russia in his final tenure as prime minister (2012–2018) in response to its invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Many local and regional commentators assert that Fico, like the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, has recently moved farther to the right and become more pro-Russian.
Slovakia under Fico would join Hungary under Orbán in the hard-right, nationalist, and pro-Vladimir Putin opposition to mainstream European thinking (an odd combination given Orbán’s anti-Slovak nationalist agenda). It will be vital to understand the electoral math and the number of parliamentary representatives Fico needs to establish a government. If Fico forms a government with a far-right party, a change in Slovak policy that is hard-right and hostile to NATO and the EU is more possible.
For pertinent content, go to the cchrsecschool.in homepage.