Slovakia election: seismic shift as public anger ousts dominant Smer-SD party

Slovak voters have handed a resounding victory to the centre-right, anti-graft OLaNO opposition party in an election dominated by an angry backlash over the 2018 murder of a journalist investigating corruption in the eurozone state.

Having vowed to immediately push through anti-corruption measures should he win office, the OLaNO party leader, Igor Matovic, galvanised voter outrage over the murder of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee and the high-level graft their deaths exposed.

“We will try to create the best government Slovakia has ever had, with the help of the other leaders of the democratic opposition,” Matovic told journalists as he claimed victory after the exit poll results were announced for Saturday’s general election.

“It was the death of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova that woke up Slovakia,” he added.

Outgoing prime minister Peter Pellegrini conceded defeat as partial official results showed OLaNO outpacing his populist-left Smer-SD by six percentage points. Smer-SD has won big in every election since 2006, and in 2016 it claimed 28.3% of the vote.

“Congratulations to the election winner, good health, good luck,” Pellegrini told Matovic, adding: “He has good marketing, but we will be interested in how he will handle his office.”

OLaNO took 24.87% of the vote ahead of 18.73% for Smer-SD party, while the conservative We Are Family scored 8.34%, the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) won 5.67% and the fellow liberal “For the People” of ex-president Andrej Kiska mustered 5.43% of the vote, according to returns from 82.76% of polling stations.

The result suggests Smer-SD lacks obvious coalition partners, as it has ruled out teaming up with the far-right Our Slovakia LSNS party, which scored 8.27% support.

When asked by journalists about a possible coalition with OLaNO, Pellegrini quipped “never say never”.

“But you have to put this question to Igor Matovic whether he would be willing to do so or not,” he added.

Matovic told reporters that he had agreed via telephone to meet with president Zuzana Čaputová on “Monday or Tuesday” and that he would begin talks with leaders of other opposition parties that make it into parliament on Sunday.

Analysts have indicated that OLaNO will have the option of considering several opposition parties for a coalition.

“There is a chance that this new government will last until the end of its term,” said Slovakia analyst Tomáš Koziak, the rector of the University of Political Sciences based in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic.

“These parties have been in opposition for a very long time, therefore their top politicians are thirsty for power. Power is the strongest glue,” Koziak told AFP.

Čaputová told reporters earlier on Saturday she would consider the “coalition potential” of party leaders when deciding who to task with creating a government.

Allegedly a hit ordered by a businessman with connections to politicians, the killings of Kuciak and Kusnirova have become a lightning rod for public outrage at graft in public life.

“Change is much needed here,” said Daniela Jonasova, a 35-year-old office clerk, who told AFP she voted for OLaNO at a Bratislava polling station.

According to Bratislava-based political analyst Radoslav Stefancik, “the election is primarily about the desire for decency in politics. Instead of protesting against the ruling Smer-SD party on the streets, people will do so in polling stations.”

The double murder triggered the largest anti-government protests since communist times and toppled Robert Fico as prime minister, with his party colleague Peter Pellegrini taking up the reins.

It also propelled Čaputová, a liberal lawyer and anti-graft activist, out of nowhere to win last year’s presidential race in the country of 5.4 million people.

Analysts suggest that OLaNO leader Matovic, a 46-year-old media-savvy MP but unpredictable politician, will become prime minister if he manages to unify the splintered opposition.

An eccentric self-made millionaire and former media boss, Matovic set up “Ordinary People and Independent Personalities – OLaNO” a decade ago, but after winning seats in parliament, several MPs left the caucus due to infighting.

“He manages OLaNO like a dictator,” said Michal Truban, the leader of the liberal PS/Spolu party said in a recent televised debate.

Referring to the Greek myth of a many-headed monster, Matovic urged Slovaks to “come out massively to vote and cut off the last head of the Hydra of corruption” as he cast his ballot in his native Trnava, western Slovakia.

But not all voters were fed up with Smer-SD.

“Fico has character. He’s a real politician. Everyone else lacks the experience and knowledge as how to run a country,” Bratislava pensioner Iveta told AFP.

She said that benefits that Smer-SD introduced for pensioners and students, like free trains, were a factor in her decision.

Heavily dependent on car-making, economic growth in the Slovak economy is projected to slow to 2.2% this year, according to the European Commission’s latest forecast.

Unemployment is relatively low and stood at around 5.6% in late 2019.