Slovakian elections draw mixed results
What's the story
Slovakia's leftist-nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico has won the general election but lost his parliamentary majority. Gains by small parties, including an extreme right one, may produce a divided parliament with no clear path to forming a majority government. In all, eight parties have made gains in the parliamentary elections. Fico has been in the spotlight for his controversial anti-migrant stance.
Introduction
Slovakia: A snapshot
Slovakia is is a country in Central Europe and is a parliamentary democratic republic with a multi-party system. The head of state is the president, elected by direct vote for a five-year term. Executive power lies with the prime minister, who is usually the leader of the winning party. Slovakia's highest legislative body is the National Council, whose delegates are elected for four-year terms.
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Vehemently anti-immigrant stance
Slovakia has been extremely critical of the EU's collective policy on refugees. Since 2015 only 260 immigrants applied for asylum in Slovakia. The Prime Minister made controversial statements stating that the country would only accept Christian migrants.
Electoral System
How does Slovakia's electoral system work?
Slovakia's national council has 150 seats. Citizens vote for four preferred candidates in order of preference. All citizens over 18, except those with proven criminal records are allowed to vote. All participating political parties are registered 90 days before election day and have to pay a sum of €17,000, which will be refunded to all parties winning at least 2% of the seats.
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Eight parties make it to parliament
Eight parties won enough votes to be represented in parliament which include the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), Ordinary People (OĽaNO), Most-Hid (meaning 'bridge'), the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS), and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and the ruling SMER-SD (Direction-Social Democracy).
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Very slim chances of forming a coalition
Prime Minister Robert Fico is expected to form a government, as the head of the largest party with 29% of the votes. However, with far-right and right centrist parties having made considerable gains, the chances of forming a coalition with over 50% representation are bleak.