ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 17, No. 1 (SK)

April 2019

Slovakia political briefing: 2019 Slovak Presidential Elections Peter Csanyi

1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11.

+36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin

Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

2019 Slovak Presidential Elections

The Slovak political landscape is extremely fragmented and like many Europeans, voters are tending to reject the traditional parties during elections. This phenomenon was observed in the last local elections, notably in the country’s biggest towns. The political crisis that followed the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová at the end of February 2018 brought not only the resignation of then Prime Minister Robert Fico and two his ministers, but had also an effect on the presidential elections. Thanks to this crisis the independent candidates had an advantage over those put forward by the political parties in the presidential elections on March 16 and March 30, 2019.

First round of presidential election:

The presidential campaign has revealed a call for a generational change as well as a change in the political style of governance, but this call is not only toward a pro-liberal, pro- Western and pro-democratic direction. The effects of conspiracy theories and alternative media will be felt in the societal atmosphere after the presidential election as well and that they could be fully displayed in the parliamentary election.

Few Slovaks felt, or feel, any strong bond to particular parties. In fact, they’re deeply disillusioned with established politicians. As a result, the campaign mattered.

Čaputová performed well in debates, calmly representing her positions and refusing to be baited when provoked. In contrast, Šefčovič often appeared to be on the defensive, cutting a frustrated figure. A significant slice of the Smer-SD vote appeared to be moving toward a third candidate, Štefan Harabin, a controversial former justice minister. He used social media and his election battle-bus to drum up support across the country, portrayed Šefčovič and Čaputová as “Siamese twins” and questioned the European commissioner’s commitment to . But he alienated potential supporters with his vulgar language and his claims that migrants would “Islamicize” Slovakia.

The recent presidential election was another confirmation that social networks and internet are new tools for politicians' propaganda, manipulation and self-presentation. However, this type of communication is accompanied by disinformation, hoaxes, hate speech and conspiracy theories, and one cannot rely on people's critical thinking to tackle it. For example,

1 about 84 percent of positive posts on disinformation media was associated with Štefan Harabin, who was followed by Maroš Šefčovič. On the other hand, Zuzana Čaputová was the most frequent target of intense disinformation campaigns. Despite of this fact, an anti-corruption campaigner with no experience of public office won the first round of Slovakia’s presidential election, as voters spurned the ruling Smer-SD party a year after the murder of an investigative journalist.

On March 16, Slovakia held the first round of voting for its largely ceremonial Slovak presidency, with 13 candidates competing for the slot (there are about 4.45 million eligible voters). It had a turnout of 48.8 percent. Even though the country’s real executive power lies with a prime minister, the presidential election reveals the mood and changing politics of Slovakia. Two candidates are left standing: an anti-corruption crusader and a candidate promoted by the ruling party, Smer-SD. Environmental lawyer Zuzana Čaputová won 40.6 percent of the vote, far ahead of the Smer-SD candidate, Maroš Šefčovič, who had 18,7 percent.

Results of Slovakia's first round of voting for president (March 16, 2019) – top six candidates:

Presidential candidate: Percentage %:

Zuzana Čaputová 40,6%

Maroš Šefčovič 18,7%

Štefan Harabin 14,3%

Marian Kotleba 10,4%

František Mikloško 5,7%

Béla Bugár 3,1%

Slovak politicians are usually not keen to sacrifice personal ambition for the greater good. However, coordination brings rewards. Čaputová was propelled into first place when another nonpolitical candidate, Robert Mistrík, stepped aside to throw his weight behind her. Meanwhile, nationalists split their votes between Harabin and far-right neo-fascist Marian Kotleba. Kotleba’s anti-Roma and anti-EU nationalist appeal delivered him a tenth of the vote,

2 roughly the same proportion that supports his party in opinion polls. Without Kotleba competing for the same voters, Harabin might have claimed second place. He was quick to blame Kotleba for facilitating the destruction of the family and Islamization of Slovakia by dividing their supporters’ votes. But Kotleba stayed in the race to keep his party visible given May’s European elections and Slovakia’s general election next year. For his part, Harabin took advantage of his raised profile and has hinted that before the March 2020 parliamentary elections, he might forge a new party.

Second round of presidential election:

Slovakia has seen a historic presidential election, but election statistics show a large amount of Slovaks abstained from voting. In the runoff round of the presidential election on March 30, 2019, less than 42 percent of eligible voters cast their votes for one of the two candidates. This is the lowest-ever turnout in the presidential .

In 2004, the turnout just exceeded 43 percent. That was the year when Ivan Gašparovič, who surprisingly succeeded to the second round against the front runner, Vladimír Mečiar, won the election in the end. Gašparovič was the former right hand of Mečiar and for many voters, voting for him was voting for a lesser evil, and many voters opted out of the election on principle.

It was also a rare case when the election turnout was lower in the second round than in the first round. On March 16, when 13 candidates ran in the first round of the vote, the turnout reached 48.8 percent.

The second round of presidential election brought a victory of Zuzana Čaputová, making her the country's first female head of state, breaking the trend that has seen populist, anti- politicians make gains across the continent.

Pro-EU Čaputová rode on a campaign of change and vowed to end corruption in a country, which she said is run "by people pulling strings from behind".

The run-off vote took place a year after journalist Ján Kuciak, who investigated high- profile fraud cases, and his fiancée were murdered at their home. The killings sparked public outrage and some of the biggest protests in Slovakia's post-communist history. It also forced the former prime minister and Smer-SD leader Robert Fico to resign last year. The 45-year old political novice won about 58.3% of the voted ahead of the more politically savvy European commissioner Maroš Šefčovič who took 41.7%.

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Results of Slovakia's second round of voting for president (March 30, 2019):

Presidential candidate: Percentage %:

Zuzana Čaputová 58,3%

Maroš Šefčovič 41,7%

Thanks to the victory of Zuzana Čaputová, Slovakia joined the few countries in the world with female presidents. She gained 1,056,582 votes in the recent presidential election and became not only the first Slovak female president, but also the first female president among the countries of Central Europe. Although observers warn about jumping to quick conclusions about how progressive Slovak society is in terms of gender equality. Still, electing a woman to the highest constitutional post in the country is definitely a breaking point. It is an important message for a country where part of the public maintained the opinion that it is not possible for a woman to be elected in Slovakia. However, even though the election of Čaputová is symbolic, one should keep in mind that Slovaks did not elect “a woman” to the presidential post, but a specific candidate. She has a background in law and in the third sector, a woman who openly talks about her liberal attitudes, her view of how insulting and equivocal is the political communication in Slovakia. At the symbolic level, she smashes stereotypes about politics being a masculine environment. When Slovakia's newly elected President Zuzana Čaputová delivered her acceptance speech on March 30, she immediately set herself apart from the wave of populist parties sweeping Europe. She thanked voters not just in Slovak - but in Hungarian, Czech, Roma and Ruthenian - in a show of unity with the nation's minority groups and rejection of the nationalist rhetoric popular in some neighboring countries. Čaputová is a political newbie whose anti-corruption campaign struck a chord in a country still grappling with the murder in February last year of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak. The murder triggered some of the biggest protests seen in post-communist Slovakia. The killings were one of the main reasons what motivated Čaputová to run for office for the very first time.

When crusading lawyer Zuzana Čaputová swept to a historic victory and becoming the first woman elected , one of her first gestures was both poignant and

4 pointedly symbolic. She made a pilgrimage to a makeshift shrine memorializing journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová.

Although Čaputová was largely unknown before she skyrocketed in polls just weeks before the election, she has condemned widespread corruption and vowed to fight for justice for all. Her connection with journalist Kuciak's case began long before his death. Čaputová as a lawyer previously waged a 14-year legal battle with a company represented by accused businessman Marian Kočner that planned to build an illegal landfill in her home town in Pezinok, and she won the case. In 2016, Čaputová won the Goldman Environmental Prize, the world's top award for grassroots environmental activism. She is a member of the non-profit organization Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide.

During the election campaign Čaputová, a divorced mother-of-two, turned her back on issues that have worked so effectively for populist parties in neighboring Hungary and Poland, such as migrants and family values. Besides, in Slovakia, a country where same-sex marriage is illegal, she called for greater LGBT rights. Voters apparently liked what they heard, and Čaputová gained just over 58% of the vote in a second-round run-off against a European commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.

Besides the success of the new president, a very positive news for Slovakia was that some extreme candidates for the presidency were eliminated already after the first round of voting on March 16. The final results were a victory for a different brand of politics. Čaputová’s victory may give a boost to opposition parties looking to replace Smer-SD, still the most popular party, in next year’s general election. However, the fact that anti-system voters, represented in the first round of the presidential race by far-right extremist Marian Kotleba and Supreme Court judge Štefan Harabin, who together won some 25 percent of the vote, may pose a problem.

The victory is also unique when compared to some of Slovakia’s neighbors. Her emphatic victory represents a rare success for liberal forces in Central Europe, where populist and nationalist parties have racked up a string of victories in recent years, and pushed through illiberal reforms that have sparked consternation in Brussels that the region is drifting away from its democratic moorings.

Now as all eyes turn to the upcoming European Parliamentary Elections in late May, Slovakia, which has traditionally had one of the lowest turnouts in the election, may have shown that populist parties might not triumph, as so many analysts have predicted.

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