The pro-EU former Slovak foreign minister won a surprise victory in the first round of the presidential election, setting up a runoff against Roberto Fico, a key ally of the populist prime minister.
The Slovak presidential election is a chance for Fico, whose views on Ukraine have angered critics for being too close to Russia, to tighten his grip on power. Rebels hope to challenge his rule.
A series of protests and criticisms from President Zuzana Caputova, 50, who has fiercely opposed President Fico but did not seek a new term, with changes in the government’s foreign policy, attempts to revise the criminal law, and clashes with the press. is happening.
Ivan Korkok, 59, a career diplomat who served as a cabinet minister in previous governments, aims to follow in her footsteps and received the most votes out of nine candidates in the first round.
He received 42.5% of the votes in a constituency where 99.9% of votes were counted, compared to 37.1% for Peter Pellegrini, 48, the speaker of parliament who leads the lower government party Fras (Voice).
Both candidates will advance to a runoff election on April 6, and Colcok said he needs to appeal to voters beyond political affiliation.
“We must certainly speak to the tens of thousands of coalition voters who do not agree with what the government is trying to do to pull Slovakia,” Korcok told supporters.
The pro-Russian former Supreme Court Chief Justice Stefan Harabin received the third most votes with just 11.75%, backed by nationalist parties also part of the coalition government. His voters may support Mr. Pellegrini.
Fico and his ruling leftist Smer party won parliamentary elections last September on a pledge to suspend military aid to Ukraine and maintain support for the country’s people, who have been hit by soaring prices.
Pellegrini, a former prime minister and former member of Smer’s party, holds the key to forming a coalition government, and the results of Saturday’s first round show that the majority do not want a “liberal, right-wing, progressive” president who is only at odds with political parties. He said that it shows that. government.
“The majority of Slovaks are interested in having a president who will protect their national interests,” he said.
Although presidents do not exercise much executive power, they can play a role in government and judicial appointments, veto laws, and shape public debate, as the liberal Mr. Caputois often did. can do.
Voters have previously refused to give ruling parties both government and the presidency, including in Caputova’s 2019 victory when anti-corruption sentiment damaged Fico’s party, which was then in power. Ta.
“This election will show whether the large-scale protests that have taken place in Bratislava and other major cities in recent weeks are supported by those who usually express their disapproval at the polling stations. ” said Radoslav Stefanczyk, a political analyst at the Bratislava University of Economics. The capital Bratislava.
The war in Ukraine, high inflation and chaotic governance under an opposition-led coalition from 2020 to 2023 polarized the electorate. Opinion polls up until Saturday showed Mr. Pellegrini was in the lead and likely to win a runoff against Mr. Colcok.
Fico abruptly changed some of Slovakia’s foreign policy, halting state military supplies to Ukraine (while still allowing commercial supply deals), despite the EU’s efforts to isolate the Russian regime. We have started dialogue with Moscow.
Pellegrini said Slovakia would remain anchored in the EU and NATO, but, like Fico, he said there was no military solution to the Ukraine conflict and supported peace talks between Kiev and Moscow, and Korcok said and other critics say it is capitulation if any part of Ukraine surrenders. occupied.
