Slovakia elects its head of state.
The second round of Slovakia's presidential election will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, and its outcome will be fully reflected on June 15, when the mandate of incumbent President Zuzana Čaputová ends. From the Czech Republic's point of view, the current election of our eastern neighbour's top constitutional official and, above all, its outcome is an important illustration of how active and audible the two antagonistic spheres of the political spectrum can be. The result of the election may to some extent confirm the gradual current orientation of Slovakia more towards the East and South, or it may create a certain counterbalance to the authoritarian leadership of the country, which visibly began after the parliamentary elections (September 2023) with the installation of Robert Fico at the head of the Slovak government.
Advancing to the second stage of the presidential election are the winner of the first round, Ivan Korčok, and the runner-up by a narrow margin, Peter Pellegrini. Ivan Korčok, in his early 60s, was foreign minister in two previous governments and served as ambassador to the US for three years (2018-02). Eleven years younger, Peter Pellegrini is a former minister of education, science, research and sport. He later served as Minister of Investment and Informatization, was also Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic for two years, and is now President of the Slovak National Council. Both gentlemen are therefore experienced politicians and suitable representatives of opposing views.
The first round of voting, after which the candidates in the top two spots are separated by five and a half percentage points, has not yet included much aggressive marketing, but the coming days are likely to bring some shifts and surprises in this area. Hints are already evident on social media as well as in the mainstream media. As in the Czech Republic, citizens in Slovakia elect the president directly - not indirectly - for a five-year term. In 1999, with Slovakia rocked by the Kuciak case, Brexit looming with unclear consequences and an economic recession in the air, Čaputová was a sensible and heartfelt option for most Slovak voters. Now other factors are at play, most notably the war in Ukraine and the latent threat of an aggressor moving closer to the eastern border. But also on the table are the cards of migration, inflation, social security, energy prices and, on the other side, fear of mafia practices and the curtailment of civil liberties. The optics of the perspective may differ according to the characteristics of social and age groups, and the difference in perspective is also noticeable between the big cities represented mainly by Bratislava and the Slovak countryside. It would be useful and beneficial for Slovaks to build on the cultivated, sensible and calm manner of the presidency that we have witnessed in recent years, even in our own interests.