A ballot to reduce corruption. In Slovakia, citizens began to vote on Saturday, February 29, to renew their parliament in the hope of reducing corruption, attributed in particular to populists in the outgoing government. The objective of combating this corruption became a national priority after the murder of an investigative journalist in 2018.
Two years ago, in fact, the assassination of Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova, of which a rich entrepreneur linked to politicians is accused of being a sponsor, mobilized public opinion.
Also, most polls indicate that the left-wing populist party Smer-SD, currently in power, hard hit, could find itself on a par with OLaNO, center-right opposition party whose fight against corruption is the main watchword.
A murder that "reconfigured the entire political scene"
Radoslav Stefancik, a Bratislava-based political analyst, expresses a similar opinion. "This election translates above all the aspiration for decency in politics," he said. "Instead of demonstrating in the streets against the ruling Smer-SD party, people will do it at the polling stations," he told AFP.
The double assassination had unleashed in 2018 the largest demonstrations against the government since the communist era. Prime Minister Robert Fico was forced to resign, leaving his post to a loved one, Peter Pellegrini.
The public opinion movement also propelled Zuzana Caputova, a little known liberal lawyer and anti-corruption activist, to the presidency of the country.
According to political analyst Grigorij Maseznikov, the murder of the journalist "has reconfigured the entire political scene, with the emergence of new liberal and democratic parties which immediately obtained support". He adds that "the most likely scenario is the creation of a center-right pro-democracy government coalition of six or even seven parties".
Vowing to go to war against demoralization as soon as he comes to power, the head of OLaNO, Igor Matovic, seems to have galvanized the indignation of the public against the murder of Kuciak and the high-level corruption revealed by the investigation.
This 46-year-old former press boss, who became a millionaire on his own, founded OLaNO ("Ordinary people and independent personalities"), a decade ago. He could take the head of the government if he succeeds in unifying a fragmented opposition.
Rise of the far right
Former Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is still the patron of Smer-SD today, has ruled out forming a coalition with Marian Kotleba's far right party "Notre Slovakia" (LSNS). He nevertheless made common cause with him a few days ago in parliament to pass a law offering a 13th month to retirees, immediately denounced as an electoralist by his opponents.
The LSNS, which presents itself as an anti-elite party and displays its enmity with regard to the Roma minority, could increase from ten to twenty the number of its seats in the single chamber.
Its leader Marian Kotleba, 42, former governor of the Banska Bystrica region, is currently on trial for incitement to hatred, but such charges against him have never succeeded in the past.
Favorable to Russia, hostile to the European Union, Marian Kotleba would like Slovakia to leave NATO.
Polling stations that opened at 6 a.m. (GMT) must close at 9 p.m. Polls taken out of the polls should indicate shortly after the orientation of this poll in which 25 political parties participate. A dozen are expected to enter parliament.
With AFP
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