Slovaks go to polls on Saturday to pick a new president, choosing between pro-Western opposition candidate Ivan Korčok and Peter Pellegrini, running for the ruling nationalist left coalition.
At stake is whether Prime Minister Robert Fico, who took power in October for the fourth time, will get an ally in the presidential palace or an opponent who could challenge his pro-Russian stance and plans to reform criminal law and the media, which have raised concern over weakening the rule of law.
The election is expected to be tight, according to final opinion polls published ahead of a moratorium on campaigning from Thursday. Bookmakers made Korčok, who surprisingly topped the first round two weeks ago, the slight favorite on Friday.
Slovak presidents do not have many executive powers but can veto laws or challenge them in the constitutional court. They nominate constitutional court judges, which may become important in upcoming battles over Fico’s reforms that would dramatically ease punishments for corruption.
For Korčok, 60, the main battle cry has been not to give Fico and his coalition all executive positions.
Pellegrini, 48, has tried to portray Korčok as a war-monger for his support for arming Ukraine and suggested he may take Slovak troops into the war, which Korčok denies.
The election is expected to be tight, according to final opinion polls published ahead of a moratorium on campaigning from Thursday. Bookmakers made Korčok, who surprisingly topped the first round two weeks ago, the slight favorite on Friday.
Slovak presidents do not have many executive powers but can veto laws or challenge them in the constitutional court. They nominate constitutional court judges, which may become important in upcoming battles over Fico’s reforms that would dramatically ease punishments for corruption.
For Korčok, 60, the main battle cry has been not to give Fico and his coalition all executive positions.
Pellegrini, 48, has tried to portray Korčok as a war-monger for his support for arming Ukraine and suggested he may take Slovak troops into the war, which Korčok denies.
Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) until 10 p.m. (2000 GMT). The first results projections are expected soon after and official results will trickle in overnight.
The independent Korčok was Slovakia’s envoy to the EU and later ambassador to the United States, before taking the foreign ministry post in center-right governments in 2021-2022.
At the time, Slovakia was a staunch ally of Ukraine, providing it with air defense and fighter jets. Fico’s cabinet halted official supplies after taking power.
Pellegrini, now speaker of parliament, was a long-time ally of Fico, who hand-picked him to be prime minister after Fico was forced to resign amid public protests against corruption following the murder of an investigative journalist in 2018.
He later split off from Fico to set up his own party Hlas (Voice — Social Democracy), more centrist and liberal than Fico’s populist-leftist SMER - SSD, but formed a government with Fico and the nationalist SNS last October.
The independent Korčok was Slovakia’s envoy to the EU and later ambassador to the United States, before taking the foreign ministry post in center-right governments in 2021-2022.
At the time, Slovakia was a staunch ally of Ukraine, providing it with air defense and fighter jets. Fico’s cabinet halted official supplies after taking power.
Pellegrini, now speaker of parliament, was a long-time ally of Fico, who hand-picked him to be prime minister after Fico was forced to resign amid public protests against corruption following the murder of an investigative journalist in 2018.
He later split off from Fico to set up his own party Hlas (Voice — Social Democracy), more centrist and liberal than Fico’s populist-leftist SMER - SSD, but formed a government with Fico and the nationalist SNS last October.
Source: Reuters
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