Presidential elections in Slovakia.
Slovakia's fifth direct presidential election will hold its first round on Saturday, March 16, 2019, with a total of fifteen candidates entering the race. Some names are missing, although they would be expected. In particular, incumbent President Kiska, but also Fico, Radičová or Lajčák would logically fit the list. Slovakia is our strategic partner for several reasons. More than seventy years of common history make us brothers in arms, which is confirmed by the membership of both countries in the somewhat rebellious Visegrad Group. A mutually intelligible language that removes in many cases a significant barrier to understanding between peoples or states. Membership of NATO and the European Union also unites us, while the Czech non-participation in the monetary union (Slovaks since 2009) somewhat divides us. In Slovakia, the direct election of the President has been established since 1999. The first and second elections have always been marked by the advancement of Vladimir Mečiar to the second round, only to be followed by the clear victory of the opposing candidate (Schuster, Gašparovič). This year's elections bring into play a strong female candidate for the second time in the last twenty years. Zuzana Čaputová, a forty-five-year-old twin, has more promising prospects than Radičová did a decade ago. Current preferences put her in first place, even with the possibility of winning a majority of the votes cast in the first round. If we are to speculate (why not?), the reason for betting on the environmental activist may be a certain awakening of Slovak society caught off guard by the protracted Kuciak case. Fears of an economic recession, an unmanaged Brexit and unending clientelism are certainly present. However, if the lawyer Čaputová wins in the first round, there is a risk that an incomplete Slovak constitutional court will be drawn into the game, seeking the correct interpretation of the Slovak constitution. And with the enforced staffing shortage of this body, this could lead to a constitutional crisis in our eastern neighbours. This fact, however, does not yet dominate the list of Slovak society's fears of further developments, perhaps because the easy solution is for Čaputová to win in the second round after getting less than fifty percent in the first. So, paradoxically, let's keep our fingers crossed that no one wins outright in the first round.