Left Wing Triumphs in Slovak Elections
June 18, 2006
Fico, 41, said the results, which more than doubled the votes Smer won in 2002, were fantastic and he has vowed to reverse Slovakia's internationally lauded economic reforms, saying they were too painful for ordinary people.
"I hope that we will succeed in forming a coalition government which will be able to push through a left-wing program," he said.
The result puts Fico in pole position to form a coalition government, ending the eight years in power of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda.
The former lawyer, who celebrated news of the victory early Sunday by singing Slovak folk songs at the party's headquarters, will command 50 seats in the 150-seat parliament against 31 for his nearest rival, Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union.
Runners-Up
Dzurinda's party obtained 18.35 percent of the vote in a poll marked by a low turnout of 54.6 percent, according to the results of the final count released by the Slovak Statistical Office on Sunday morning.
After eight years in power, Dzurinda was battling for a third term to continue reforms that have brought Slovakia strong economic growth -- at 6.1 percent the highest in central Europe -- but stubbornly high unemployment at 15.5 percent.
In third position with 11.73 percent was the extreme-right Slovak National Party, which is opposed to gypsies and the country's half-a-million strong Hungarian minority. Just behind, with 11.68 percent, came Dzurinda's former coalition partner, the Hungarian Coalition Party, which champions the rights of the Hungarian minority.
The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia of former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar - which topped the polls in previous elections in 2002 - slipped badly to 8.79 percent.
The Christian Democratic Movement, another former coalition partner of Dzurinda, maintained its share of the vote with 8.31 percent. The Slovak Communist Party fell short of the five percent support required to enter parliament with only 3.9 percent.
Without an overall majority, Fico will now have to piece together a coalition. One possible scenario would combine Smer with Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and Jan Slota's Slovak National Party. Another formula might see Smer teaming up with some of Dzurinda's former center-right partners.
Left-wing plan
Fico has given no clear signals about his coalition partners but underlined on Sunday that he would have to be able to push through his left-wing program.
This includes scrapping Dzurinda's centerpiece reform, a 19 percent flat income and value-added tax. Smer has also pledged to increase taxes on banks and big business, stop privatizations, abolish healthcare charges and introduce a generous minimum wage.
Possible alliances between Slovakia's alphabet soup of parties are complicated by a series of religious, ethnic, policy and personal splits.
The results should give the Hungarian Coalition and Slovak National Party 20 seats each, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia 15 seats and the Christian Democratic Movement 14 seats.