The Slovak parliamentary election of 2020: Conservative Euroscepticism strongly in the air
The Slovak parliamentary election of 2020 in many respects followed a trend towards hardline conservative Euroscepticism seen across Eastern Europe, most pronounced in Hungary and Poland.
The Direction-Social Democracy (SMER-SD)-led coalition, led first by Robert Fico and then Peter Pelligrini, suffered a decisive defeat at the election, with SMER-SD itself polling just 18.3% of the vote, marking the first time since its inaugural run 2002 it did not finish first in a Slovak parliamentary election, and it dropped from 49 seats to 38. The coalition, which also included the Slovak Conservative Party (formerly Network), the Slovak National Party, and Most-Hid (a Hungarian minority interest party, the other being MKS, or Party of the Hungarian Community), went into a downward spiral after a political crisis emerged following the 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, who was investigating tax fraud within SMER-SD and suspected 'Ndrangheta (an organised crime syndicate similar to the Mafia) ties of colleagues of Mr Fico, particularly his main assistant and alleged mistress, Maria Troskova. Mr Fico subsequently resigned from the post of Prime Minister of Slovakia to avoid an early election, but the coalition never recovered from the crisis or the main corruption allegations tied to it. Both of the junior coalition partners who ran in this election paid the price, with the Slovak National Party and Most-Hid losing all their seats in the Slovak National Council; the SNS polled 3.16% and Most-Hid polled an even lower vote share of 2.05%, placing it behind two newcomer parties who also failed to cross the 5% threshold for representation, Good Choice and VLAST. Furthermore, the failure of the Party of the Hungarian Community to re-enter the National Council having been eliminated from it in 2016 means that this is the first time in a century that no Hungarian minority interest parties will be represented in the National Council (neither Most-Hid nor MKS have any MEPs either), at a time when minority interests are in practice being sidelined across Eastern Europe as the aforementioned trend continues.
The conservative Ordinary People's Party (in coalition with New Majority), despite only polling just over 25% of the vote, topped the poll in every single Slovak region and jumped to 53 seats, over 35% of the total seats available. OLANO's rise also accounts for the losses of the Freedom and Solidarity Party from which it originally split from, since the platforms of OLANO and SaS are similar in many respects; SaS lost 8 seats whilst OLANO gained as many as 34. As further evidence of the conservative populist shift, the more conservative populist We Are Family party also gained seats, increasing from 11 to 17, and even the neo-Nazi People's Party-Our Slovakia managed to increase its seat total from 14 to 17, despite its vote share actually falling by 0.07% this year and the cordon sanitaire other parties in Slovakia have formed in relation to it. On the progressive, pro-European side, the Progressive Slovakia-SOPULU coalition, which had topped the poll in last year's European Parliament election in Slovakia, missed out on winning seats by just 0.04%, since the threshold for representation for coalitions in Slovakia is 7% as opposed to 5% for single parties, an electoral practice common in Central and Eastern Europe. However, For the People, led by former President Andrej Kiska, did win 12 seats, making it one of only two non-conservative parties represented in the new National Council. The Christian Democratic Movement also failed to return to the National Council, partly because OLANO leader Igor Matovic made promises during the campaign not to legalise registered partnerships for same-sex couples (or enter a government that would legalise such partnerships in Slovakia) and to place restrictions on abortion in Slovakia, social issues which resonate strongly when most of the population in Slovakia is Roman Catholic. This means that only six political parties will be represented in the new National Council, the lowest in Slovak history.
It is certain that Mr Matovic will become the next Prime Minister of Slovakia, and that it is likely as a consequence that Slovakia will shift at least somewhat in the direction of Hungary and Poland even though unlike the latter two countries Slovakia will have to rely on a multiparty coalition.
The Direction-Social Democracy (SMER-SD)-led coalition, led first by Robert Fico and then Peter Pelligrini, suffered a decisive defeat at the election, with SMER-SD itself polling just 18.3% of the vote, marking the first time since its inaugural run 2002 it did not finish first in a Slovak parliamentary election, and it dropped from 49 seats to 38. The coalition, which also included the Slovak Conservative Party (formerly Network), the Slovak National Party, and Most-Hid (a Hungarian minority interest party, the other being MKS, or Party of the Hungarian Community), went into a downward spiral after a political crisis emerged following the 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, who was investigating tax fraud within SMER-SD and suspected 'Ndrangheta (an organised crime syndicate similar to the Mafia) ties of colleagues of Mr Fico, particularly his main assistant and alleged mistress, Maria Troskova. Mr Fico subsequently resigned from the post of Prime Minister of Slovakia to avoid an early election, but the coalition never recovered from the crisis or the main corruption allegations tied to it. Both of the junior coalition partners who ran in this election paid the price, with the Slovak National Party and Most-Hid losing all their seats in the Slovak National Council; the SNS polled 3.16% and Most-Hid polled an even lower vote share of 2.05%, placing it behind two newcomer parties who also failed to cross the 5% threshold for representation, Good Choice and VLAST. Furthermore, the failure of the Party of the Hungarian Community to re-enter the National Council having been eliminated from it in 2016 means that this is the first time in a century that no Hungarian minority interest parties will be represented in the National Council (neither Most-Hid nor MKS have any MEPs either), at a time when minority interests are in practice being sidelined across Eastern Europe as the aforementioned trend continues.
The conservative Ordinary People's Party (in coalition with New Majority), despite only polling just over 25% of the vote, topped the poll in every single Slovak region and jumped to 53 seats, over 35% of the total seats available. OLANO's rise also accounts for the losses of the Freedom and Solidarity Party from which it originally split from, since the platforms of OLANO and SaS are similar in many respects; SaS lost 8 seats whilst OLANO gained as many as 34. As further evidence of the conservative populist shift, the more conservative populist We Are Family party also gained seats, increasing from 11 to 17, and even the neo-Nazi People's Party-Our Slovakia managed to increase its seat total from 14 to 17, despite its vote share actually falling by 0.07% this year and the cordon sanitaire other parties in Slovakia have formed in relation to it. On the progressive, pro-European side, the Progressive Slovakia-SOPULU coalition, which had topped the poll in last year's European Parliament election in Slovakia, missed out on winning seats by just 0.04%, since the threshold for representation for coalitions in Slovakia is 7% as opposed to 5% for single parties, an electoral practice common in Central and Eastern Europe. However, For the People, led by former President Andrej Kiska, did win 12 seats, making it one of only two non-conservative parties represented in the new National Council. The Christian Democratic Movement also failed to return to the National Council, partly because OLANO leader Igor Matovic made promises during the campaign not to legalise registered partnerships for same-sex couples (or enter a government that would legalise such partnerships in Slovakia) and to place restrictions on abortion in Slovakia, social issues which resonate strongly when most of the population in Slovakia is Roman Catholic. This means that only six political parties will be represented in the new National Council, the lowest in Slovak history.
It is certain that Mr Matovic will become the next Prime Minister of Slovakia, and that it is likely as a consequence that Slovakia will shift at least somewhat in the direction of Hungary and Poland even though unlike the latter two countries Slovakia will have to rely on a multiparty coalition.
Comments
Post a Comment