Ordinary People and Independent Personalities) ( sk, Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti) is a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political party in Slovakia
This article lists political parties in Slovakia.
Slovakia has a democratic multi-party system with numerous political parties, established after the fall of communism in 1989 and shaped into the present form with Slovakia's independence in 1993. ...
. The
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
party founded in 2011 won the
2020 parliamentary election on an
anti-corruption
Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...
platform. After getting in charge, OĽaNO adopted a generally conservative outlook. The party is led by former
prime minister of Slovakia Igor Matovič
Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021.
...
. The incumbent prime minister is a member of the party presidium,
Eduard Heger, succeeding Matovič in 2021.
History
The four Ordinary People (OĽaNO) MPs were Igor Matovič, Erika Jurinová, Martin Fecko, Jozef Viskupič.
OĽaNO sat in the National Council with the SaS and signed an agreement with the SaS that its members could not
cross the floor to another group. In June and July 2010,
it was rumoured that OĽaNO would refuse to back the programme of the new centre-right coalition, which included Freedom and Solidarity, and whose majority depended on Ordinary People.
In August 2010, Matovič said that it was not the right time to become an independent party.
However, on 28 October 2011, Ordinary People filed a formal party registration, while Matovič announced that the party would compete in
2012 parliamentary election as a separate electoral list, of independents and representatives of the
Civic Conservative Party and the
Conservative Democrats.
In the 2012 election, the party came in third place overall, winning 8.55% of the vote and 16 seats.
In the
2014 European elections, OĽaNO came in fourth place nationally, receiving 7.46% of the vote and electing 1
MEP.
In the
2016 parliamentary election, Ordinary People ran in alliance with
New Majority. They received 11.02% votes in Slovakia and consequently 19 MPs in the
Slovak Parliament, 17 of whom came from Ordinary People.
In 2014–2019, the party was member of European Parliament group of
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...
and in 2019 switched to the
European People's Party group.
At the
February 2020 parliamentary election, the Party received 25.0% of the vote, winning a 53 of 150 seats in the
National Council. Party leader
Igor Matovič
Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021.
...
was appointed as the Prime Minister designate.
Ideology and platform
Initially a
big tent
A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
populist party, it eventually adopted a generally
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
outlook while maintaining its
anti-corruption
Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...
and
anti-elitist rhetoric. Although conservative voices were always present in OĽaNO, their influence became significant after the
2020 parliamentary election. Party leader
Igor Matovič
Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021.
...
endorsed the
2015 Slovak referendum initiated by Alliance for Family, voting against the introduction of
same-sex marriages
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constitutin ...
,
adoptions and compulsory
sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
in state schools. Before the last election, Matovič announced that his party would not join a coalition government that wanted to establish
civil unions
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
or loosen
drug policy. At the same time,
Christian Union merged into the party, presenting bills restricting abortions with major party support.
OĽaNO lacks any
internal democratic structures, and Matovič decides on the composition of the electoral list, admission of members, political nominations and he is irremovable. The use of
public subsidies for the party is considered non-transparent and similar to a private company rather than a political entity. OĽaNO claimed to have 50 members as of 31 December 2021.
Election results
National Council
European Parliament
Presidential
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordinary People and Independent Personalities
Conservative parties in Slovakia
Populist parties
Freedom and Solidarity breakaway groups
Political parties established in 2011
2011 establishments in Slovakia