2010 Slovak parliamentary election

2010 Slovak parliamentary election

←  2006 12 June 2010 2012  →
All 150 seats in the National Council 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	58.65% ( 3.98 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Robert Fico Iveta Radičová Richard Sulík Party SMER–SD SDKÚ-DS SaS Last election 50 seats, 29.1% 31 seats, 18.4% New party Seats won 62 28 22 Seat change 12 3 New party Popular vote 880,111 390,042 307,287 Percentage 34.8% 15.42% 12.1% Swing 5.7 pp 2.9 pp New party   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ján Figeľ Béla Bugár Ján Slota Party KDH Most-Híd SNS Last election 14 seats, 8.3% New party 20 seats, 11.7% Seats won 15 14 9 Seat change 1 New party 11 Popular vote 215,755 205,538 128,490 Percentage 8.5% 8.1% 5.1% Swing 0.2 pp New party 6.7 pp
Results of the election, showing vote strength by district.
Prime Minister before election Robert Fico Smer–SD Elected Prime Minister Iveta Radičová SDKÚ-DS

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 12 June 2010. ^[1] The elections were contested by eighteen parties, six of which passed the 5% threshold for sitting in parliament. ^[2] Despite the incumbent Smer of Prime Minister Robert Fico winning a plurality, the new government consisted of a coalition led by the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party's Iveta Radičová and included KDH, SaS and Most-Hid. However, her government fell on 11 October 2011 following a vote of no confidence with a new election called for 10 March 2012.

Background

A total of 2,401 candidates applied to contest the 150 seats. ^[3]

Polls in February 2010 had indicated that the current governing party Smer-SD (Direction – Social Democracy) would win a plurality with a margin of 25%. ^[4] However the five opposition right-wing parties – the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ-DS), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP), Most–Híd, and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) – could together gain a majority. There were conflicting reports during the campaign as to whether some of these parties would consider joining with Fico. ^[5] During pre-election campaigning, reports indicated that the "Christian Democrats and the two ethnic Hungarian parties had not ruled out working with Fico." ^{[6] [7]} Rumours were reported that prime minister Robert Fico might have secretly agreed not to enter a coalition with the Slovak nationalists again, unless he had no other choice. ^[6] A later poll by of the Czech News Agency suggested that the governing coalition would lose its majority, and that one of Fico's allies (HZDS) would struggle with the 5% barrier. ^[8]

Participating parties

Party		Ideology	Political position	Leader
	Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD)	Social democracy Left-wing populism	Centre-left	Robert Fico
	Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ–DS)	Liberal conservatism Christian democracy	Centre-right	Iveta Radičová
	Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)	Liberalism Right-libertarianism	Centre-right	Richard Sulík
	Christian Democratic Movement (KDH)	Christian democracy Social conservatism	Centre-right	Ján Figeľ
	Bridge (Most–Híd)	Hungarian minority interests Christian democracy	Centre-right	Béla Bugár
	Slovak National Party (SNS)	Ultranationalism Right-wing populism	Far-right	Ján Slota

Campaign

During the parliamentary elections the SDKÚ-DS ran on a platform of fiscal discipline and pledging to reinvigorate the economy.^{[ citation needed ]}

Opinion polls

According to polling agency Focus in May 2010, eight parties would cross the 5% threshold needed for participation in parliament.

Party	January 2010	February 2010	March 2010	April 2010	May 2010	June 2010
Direction – Social Democracy	41.4%	38.6%	38.4%	36.8%	35.3%	29.5%
Slovak National Party	6.2%	6.2%	6.3%	8.6%	6.1%	7.7%
People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia	6.5%	5.8%	5.4%	5.4%	5.1%	5%
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party	15.2%	11.3%	14.3%	13.6%	14%	12.1%
Freedom and Solidarity	5.1%	9.6%	8.6%	11.5%	13.3%	12.4%
Christian Democratic Movement	9.0%	9.6%	9.7%	8.6%	8.3%	9.2%
Most–Híd	5.2%	5.6%	6.9%	5.1%	5.6%	6.5%
Party of the Hungarian Coalition	5.6%	5.1%	5.2%	5.1%	5.9%	5.2%

^[9]

According to a poll of the Institute of public affairs (IVO) the voter participation would be about 50 to 60%. ^[4]

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Direction – Social Democracy	880,111	34.80	+5.65	62	+12
	Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party	390,042	15.42	−2.93	28	−3
	Freedom and Solidarity	307,287	12.15	New	22	New
	Christian Democratic Movement	215,755	8.53	+0.21	15	+1
	Most–Híd	205,538	8.13	New	14	New
	Slovak National Party	128,490	5.08	−6.66	9	−11
	Party of the Hungarian Coalition	109,638	4.33	−7.35	0	−20
	People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia	109,480	4.33	−4.47	0	−15
	Party of the Democratic Left	61,137	2.42	+2.3	0	0
	People's Party Our Slovakia	33,724	1.33	New	0	New
	Communist Party of Slovakia	21,104	0.83	−3.07	0	0
	Union – Party for Slovakia (Free Forum–+1 Voice)	17,741	0.70	−2.77	0	0
	Paliho Kapurková, Cheerful Political Party	14,576	0.58	New	0	New
	European Democratic Party	10,332	0.41	New	0	New
	New Democracy	7,962	0.31	New	0	New
	Party of the Roma Coalition	6,947	0.27	New	0	New
	Union of the Workers of Slovakia	6,196	0.24	−0.06	0	0
	AZEN – Alliance for Europe of the Nations	3,325	0.13	New	0	New
Total		2,529,385	100.00	–	150	0
Valid votes		2,529,385	98.86
Invalid/blank votes		29,180	1.14
Total votes		2,558,565	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		4,362,369	58.65
Source: Volby, IFES

Results by region

Region	Smer-SD	SDKÚ-DS	SaS	KDH	Most-Híd	SNS	SMK/MKP	ĽS-HZDS	SDĽ	ĽSNS	Other parties
Bratislava Region	25.11	27.58	18.03	7.99	8.25	3.85	0.95	2.69	2.04	0.64
Trnava Region	26.98	13.68	10.88	7.09	18.18	3.67	10.28	3.27	1.98	0.89
Trenčín Region	44.78	12.97	12.63	7.97	1.41	7.11	0.02	5.93	2.78	1.09
Nitra Region	30.70	11.81	9.12	5.25	17.26	4.44	12.90	3.16	1.93	1.03
Žilina Region	42.45	12.61	12.75	10.98	1.40	9.07	0.02	4.36	2.59	0.93
Banská Bystrica Region	35.15	14.22	12.68	5.44	7.18	5.06	5.41	5.40	2.79	2.18
Prešov Region	41.68	13.66	9.91	14.97	1.67	3.75	0.05	4.59	2.60	2.08
Košice Region	31.61	16.07	11.02	8.16	10.13	3.64	5.31	5.36	2.60	1.79
Total in Slovakia	34.80	15.42	12.15	8.53	8.13	5.08	4.33	4.33	2.42	1.33
Cities	32.46	19.68	15.03	7.98	7.20	4.62	2.43	3.56	2.39	1.34
Villages	37.64	10.20	8.62	9.19	9.25	5.63	6.65	5.26	2.44	1.32

New government

Incumbent Prime Minister Robert Fico's Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) party increased its seat share by 12 to 62. However, Fico faced an uphill battle to remain prime minister, as his coalition partners were decimated. The Slovak National Party barely passed the 5% vote threshold required for parliamentary representation while losing 11 of their 20 seats, while the People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia was shut out of the chamber altogether. ^[10] Despite the setback, Fico said that he wanted to try to form a cabinet even though his leftist coalition could only command 71 of the 150 parliament seats and would thus force the need for at least one of the opposing centre-right parties. ^[10] This has been described as an unlikely, but possible, occurrence, ^[10] because opposition parties stated during the election that they would not enter government with Fico. One analyst said that he "strictly rule[d] out that any of the centre-right parties could team up with Smer." ^[11]

The Slovakian President, Ivan Gasparovic, asked Fico to attempt to form a government stating that "I believe that the party that won such support from the people deserves the chance." ^[11]

The second placed Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party had coalition talks with the Christian Democratic Movement, Freedom and Solidarity and Most–Híd. ^[12] On 16 June it was reported that the four opposition parties which had won seats in the parliament had agreed to form a government under the leadership of Radičová. ^[13]

An agreement on the distribution of ministries was reached on 28 June 2010. ^[14] Radičová was then sworn in as PM on 8 July 2010, ^[15] after her coalition (comprising SDKU, KDH, SaS and Most-Hid ^[16] ) secured a majority of 79 seats in the 150-seat parliament and Fico and his cabinet tendered their resignations.^{[ citation needed ]} The new government pledged to cut state spending and the budget deficit and to attract more foreign investment, while steering clear of tax rises. "We are ready to take responsibility over the country at a time when it is coping with the impact of a deep economic crisis and the irresponsible decisions of our political predecessors." ^[17] They have also sought, through Most-Hid, to rebuild links with Hungary that were badly damaged by the adoption of contentious language and citizenship laws. ^[18]

Fall of government

On 11 October 2011, parliament voted to approve the expansion of the European Financial Stability Fund on the grounds, according to the Freedom and Solidarity, that Slovakia, the second poorest eurozone country, should not bailout richer countries such as Greece and for bank re-capitalisation. As Slovakia was the last eurozone country to vote on the measure, Radičová made it a no confidence vote. The measure then failed by 21 votes after both Freedom and Solidarity and Smer abstained. However, another vote was expected with Smer rumoured to support it should there be a new election and more stringent terms. ^{[19] [20]} Smer came to an agreement with the governing coalition to support the measure in what Fico called "the most important document of this period." He also explained the first round rejection of the measure as "saying 'no' to a rightist government, but we're saying 'yes' to the rescue fund." As per the agreement between the two parties Minister^{[ which? ]} Mikulas Dzurinda said that a snap election has been called: "We decided that as the first point of [Thursday's] parliamentary session, we will work on a proposal to shorten the voting period, with the goal of organising an election on 10 March. Immediately after [13 October or 14 October] we will debate proposals related to the EFSF." ^[21]

References

1. "Slovakia's parliamentary elections set for June 12". The Slovak Spectator. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
2. "Voľby do Národnej rady Slovenskej republiky". Volbysr.sk. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
3. "Radio Slovakia International". Rozhlas.sk. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
4. "Radio Slovakia International". Rozhlas.sk. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
5. posten. "Premier fürchtet um Regierungsmehrheit". Der Standard. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
6. "Corruption rife, but fails to rile Slovak voters". Businessneweurope.eu. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
7. "Business finance news – currency market news – online UK currency markets – financial news – Interactive Investor". Iii.co.uk. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
8. posten (22 May 2010). "Regierungskoalition in Umfragen ohne Mehrheit". Der Standard. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
9. "FOCUS". Focus-research.sk. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
10. "Slovakia's leftist leader wins Pyrrhic victory as right claims majority". Deutsche Welle. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
11. Bednarikova, Tatiana (13 June 2010). "Slovak president taps leftist premier to form government". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
12. "Slovak right wins vote and look set to oust leftist PM". Reuters. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
13. ^[ dead link ]
14. "Coalition parties agree on ministries and SaS presiding over parliament". The Slovak Spectator. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
15. "Slovak president appoints liberal Radicova as PM". Agence France-Presse. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
16. "Slovak right backs Radičová to lead cabinet". EurActiv. 16 June 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
17. "Sociologist Iveta Radicova becomes Slovakia's first female prime minister". Istockanalyst.com. 8 July 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
18. "Fri, Jul 9, 2010 – Sociologist Iveta Radicova becomes Slovakia's first female prime minister". The Irish Times. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
19. Rob Cameron (11 October 2011). "Slovakia votes down eurozone bailout expansion plans". BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
20. "Slovak lawmakers reject eurozone's revamped EFSF rescue fund". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
21. "Slovak rivals reach deal to back EU bailout fund". BBC News. 12 October 2011.

External links

• Slovak Election Data Project
• NSD: European Election Database – Slovakia Archived 15 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine publishes regional level election data (NUTS 1–3); allows for comparisons of election results, 1990–2010