Slovak Parliamentary Election, 2012
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Parliamentary elections were held in
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
on 10 March 2012 to elect the 150 members of the National Council. The elections followed the fall of Prime Minister
Iveta Radičová Iveta Radičová (; born 7 December 1956) served as the first woman prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012. She led a coalition government, in which she also briefly held the post of Minister of Defence in the last five months of the coalit ...
's
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party ( sk, Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana, SDKÚ-DS) was a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Slovakia. The SDKÚ-DS was a m ...
-led coalition in October 2011 over a
no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
vote her government had lost because of its support for the
European Financial Stability Fund The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to address the European sovereign-debt crisis. It was agreed by the Council of the European Union on 9 May 2010, with the objecti ...
. Amidst a major corruption scandal involving local center-right politicians, former Prime Minister
Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018 (when he resigned). He has been the first leader of the Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD) p ...
's
Direction – Social Democracy Direction may refer to: *Relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction Mathematics and science *Direction ...
won an absolute majority of seats.


Background

On 11 October 2011, the
National Council of the Slovak Republic The National Council of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Národná rada Slovenskej republiky), abbreviated to ''NR SR'', is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under ...
, the parliament of Slovakia, voted on whether to approve the expansion of the
European Financial Stability Fund The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to address the European sovereign-debt crisis. It was agreed by the Council of the European Union on 9 May 2010, with the objecti ...
. As Slovakia was the last eurozone country to vote on the measure, prime minister
Iveta Radičová Iveta Radičová (; born 7 December 1956) served as the first woman prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012. She led a coalition government, in which she also briefly held the post of Minister of Defence in the last five months of the coalit ...
of the
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party ( sk, Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana, SDKÚ-DS) was a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Slovakia. The SDKÚ-DS was a m ...
(SDKÚ) made it a
vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
. The motion was called on the grounds, according to the
Freedom and Solidarity Freedom and Solidarity ( sk, Sloboda a solidarita, SaS) is a liberal political party in Slovakia. Established in 2009, SaS is led by its founder and economist Richard Sulík, who designed Slovakia's flat tax system. It generally holds libertaria ...
(SaS) party, that Slovakia, the second poorest eurozone country, should not bail out richer countries such as Greece in the interest of bank re-capitalisation. The motion then failed by 21 votes after SaS and
Direction – Social Democracy Direction may refer to: *Relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction Mathematics and science *Direction ...
(Smer–SD) abstained. Smer-SD then came to an agreement with the governing coalition to support the measure in what party chairman and former prime minister
Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018 (when he resigned). He has been the first leader of the Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD) p ...
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, foreign minister
Mikuláš Dzurinda Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1956) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. He is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democratic a ...
(SDKÚ) said that, in return for Smer's support, a
snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...
would be called: "We decided that as the first point of hursday'sparliamentary session, we will work on a proposal to shorten the voting period, with the goal of organising an election on 10 March. Immediately after 3 October or 14 Octoberwe will debate proposals related to the EFSF." On 13 October, following pressure from the European Union, which was in turn warned by the United States and China to get its finances in order, the motion was passed by a vote of 114–30 with 3 abstentions.


Campaign

The number of competing political parties in the 2012 elections was the highest since the
fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
in Slovakia in 1989. All participating parties had to register 90 days before the election and pay a fee of 16 596 euro (the fee is refunded to all parties who reach at least 2% of votes). All Slovak citizens are allowed to vote except for
convicted felons ''Convicted Felons'' is the fifth studio album from Turk Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic grou ...
in prison (only those, who were convicted for serious offenses), people declared ineligible to perform legal acts (legally insane) by court and citizens under 18 years of age. Numerous political scandals overshadowed the economic issues which led to the fall of the previous government: * Controversial wiretapping by the Military Defense Intelligence (VOS) (The controversy is not of the wiretapping itself, but of evidence discovered during the wiretapping implicating the Governing Coalition 1998-2006 2010-2012 of major corruption) *
Gorilla scandal Vazovova Street in Bratislava, the wiretapped flat is located in the house to the right Gorilla scandal ( sk, Kauza Gorila) is a political corruption scandal in Slovakia. It is named after a Slovak Secret Service wiretap file ( sk, Gorila) fro ...
– a major political scandal surrounding corruption at the highest level in the government In the run-up to the elections the
Gorilla scandal Vazovova Street in Bratislava, the wiretapped flat is located in the house to the right Gorilla scandal ( sk, Kauza Gorila) is a political corruption scandal in Slovakia. It is named after a Slovak Secret Service wiretap file ( sk, Gorila) fro ...
(secret recordings of leading politicians in 2005–2006 showing political corruption) shook the political scene. The campaign was openly criticised for being the first one since the fall of communism in which political scandals and personal attacks replaced policy discussion. An open declaration condemning the campaign was signed by 16 prominent Slovaks, including economist Juraj Stern, actor
Milan Lasica Milan Lasica (; 3 February 1940 – 18 July 2021) was a popular Slovak comedian, actor, singer, writer, lyricist and satirist. Active from 1961 up to his death, he was known mainly from his double act with Július Satinský and their collaborat ...
and sociologist Martin Bútora. The campaign officially started on 18 February and continued up to, and including, election day.


Opinion polls

In January 2012, polls projected that a new centre-right party,
Ordinary People ''Ordinary People'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by Robert Redford in his directorial debut. The screenplay by Alvin Sargent is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest. The film follows the disintegration of an upper ...
, would enter the National Council.


Conduct

The day before the election, about 1,000 protesters in Bratislava, the national capital, protested against the corruption brought to light by the Gorilla scandal, which later turned violent. Voting took place between 7:00 and 22:00 at 5,956 polling stations. ''
The Slovak Spectator ''The Slovak Spectator'' (or in abbreviated form ''Slovak Spectator'') is Slovakia's English-language newspaper. History and profile The debut issue of ''The Slovak Spectator'' hit newsstands across Slovakia on 1 March, 1995. The newspaper was ...
'' reported that former Slovak citizens who had been granted Hungarian citizenship were prevented from voting because of an amendment to the Citizenship Act in 2010 which mandated that those who acquire citizenship of another country automatically have their Slovak citizenship rescinded.


Results


Reactions

Although Direction won an absolute majority, Fico announced on election night that he would be willing to consult with other parties if they so wished. He also said that: "The European Union can lean on ''Smer'' because we realise that Slovakia, as a small country living in Europe and wanting to live in Europe ... desires to maintain the eurozone and the euro as a strong European currency." However, no other parties were willing to form coalition with Smer, leading Fico to form the first one-party government in Slovakia since 1993.


Analysis

''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' called Fico "one of Europe's most successful centre-left politicians" after Smer-SD's win. It suggested that the "big loser" was the SDKÚ-DS' Dzurinda as a former prime minister "barely squeaked" into parliament and that, along with the SaS, were punished by voters for their failure to support the previous government's EU-backed Greek bailout. It further cited the high voter turnout (59.1) saying that Slovaks had "matured politically" for not abstaining or threatening to invalidate the poll, yet it still cited smaller protests that were "rowdy." It pointed to the OLaNO's newcomer status as "starry-eyed" in attempting to "harness voters' discontent" and that as a result of the party's showing it would be "breathing down KDH's neck." ''The Economist'' pointed out that this was the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia that any party had won an absolute majority, though Smer-SD fell seven seats short of the three-fifths majority needed to unilaterally amend the constitution.


See also

* List of members of the National Council of Slovakia (2012–16)


References


External links


Slovak Election Data Project
{{Slovak elections Parliamentary elections in Slovakia
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
2012 in Slovakia March 2012 events in Europe