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2020 Slovak parliamentary election

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2020 Slovak parliamentary election

← 2016 29 February 2020 (2020-02-29) 2023 →

All 150 seats in the National Council
76 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout65.75% (Increase 6.37pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Igor Matovič Peter Pellegrini Boris Kollár
Party OĽaNO–NOVA–KÚ–ZZ Smer We Are Family
Last election 19 seats, 11.0% 49 seats, 28.3% 11 seats, 6.6%
Seats won 53 38 17
Seat change Increase 34 Decrease 11 Increase 6
Popular vote 721,166 527,172 237,531
Percentage 25.0% 18.3% 8.2%
Swing Increase 14.0 pp Decrease 10.0 pp Increase 1.6 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Marian Kotleba Richard Sulík Andrej Kiska
Party ĽSNS SaS For the People
Last election 14 seats, 8.0% 21 seats, 12.1% Did not exist
Seats won 17 13 12
Seat change Increase 3 Decrease 8 New
Popular vote 229,660 179,246 166,325
Percentage 8.0% 6.2% 5.8%
Swing Steady 0.0 pp Decrease 5.9 pp New

Results of the election, showing vote strength by district

Prime Minister before election

Peter Pellegrini
Smer

Elected Prime Minister

Igor Matovič
OĽaNO

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council.

The anti-corruption list led by Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) movement emerged as the largest parliamentary group, winning 53 seats. The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy (SMER–SD), the Slovak National Party (SNS), and Most–Híd (MH), led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of SMER–SD, won only 38, with both the SNS and MH losing their parliamentary representation. It was the first time since the 2006 elections that SMER–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats.

As no party or electoral coalition won a majority of seats, a coalition government was needed.[1][2][3][4] On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family (SR), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and For the People (ZĽ), though they had not agreed upon a common governing program. On 21 March, President Zuzana Čaputová appointed Matovič's Cabinet.

Background

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SMER–SD won a plurality of seats in the 2016 election and formed a coalition government with national-conservative Slovak National Party, inter-ethnic Most–Híd, and liberal-conservative #Network. Incumbent Prime Minister Robert Fico remained in office.[5]

The election term was characterized by a number of corruption scandals, growing political and societal tensions and an increase in the popularity of political extremism, which led to a gradual decline in the government's popularity. In March 2018, Peter Pellegrini took over the Prime Minister's office after the resignation of Robert Fico, as a result of mass anti-government protests triggered by the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak.

The opposition's candidate Zuzana Čaputová won the 2019 presidential election by 17% ahead of the SMER-SD candidate Maroš Šefčovič in the second round. The 2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia was held on 25 May 2019. With a turnout of 22.7%, the election was won by the liberal coalition PSSPOLU (20.1%), followed by SMER–SD (15.7%).

Electoral system

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The 150 members of the National Council were elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with an electoral threshold of 5% for single parties, 7% for coalitions of two or three parties, and 10% for coalitions of four or more parties. The election used the open list system, with seats allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. Voters were able to cast up to four preferential votes for candidates on the list of the party they voted for.[6]

All participating parties must had register 90 days before election day and paid a deposit of €17,000, which would be refunded to all parties having gained at least 3% of the votes. All citizens of the Slovak Republic were allowed to vote except for convicted felons in prison (only those who were convicted for serious offences), people declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court, and citizens under 18 years of age. All citizens, who were 21 years of age or older on the election day and are permanent residents of Slovakia, were allowed to run as candidates except for prisoners, convicted felons, and those declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court.[7]

Voters not present in their electoral district at the time of the elections were allowed to request a voting certificate (voličský preukaz), which allowed them to vote in any district regardless of their residency.[8] Voters abroad on election day were allowed to request a postal vote.[9] According to the Central Election Committee, approximately 20,000 citizens of the Slovak Republic living abroad had requested a postal vote for the election. The deadline for requests passed on 10 January 2020.

Political parties

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The table below lists groups elected in the 2016 election, groups re-elected in the 2020 election and new group (ZĽ) elected in the 2020 election.

An informal political bloc, labeling itself the "democratic opposition," included the parliamentary parties Freedom and Solidarity and Ordinary People and Independent Personalities, the extra-parliamentary Christian Democratic Movement and the newly founded parties For the People, Progressive Slovakia and Together – Civic Democracy with the last latter running in coalition.

List Parties Leader Ideology Previous election Seats
before
election
Status
Votes (%) Seats
SMER–SD Direction – Social Democracy (SMER–SD) Peter
Pellegrini
[a]
Left-wing
nationalism
28.28
49 / 150
48 / 150
Government
SaS Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)
Civic Conservative Party (OKS)
Richard
Sulík
Conservative
liberalism
12.10
21 / 150
11 / 150
Opposition
OĽaNO Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO)
Christian Union (KÚ)
New Majority (NOVA)
Change from Bottom (ZZ)
Igor
Matovič
Liberal
conservatism
11.03
19 / 150
10 / 150
Opposition
SNS Slovak National Party (SNS) Andrej
Danko
National
conservatism
8.64
15 / 150
16 / 150
Government
ĽSNS People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS)
Christian Democracy – Life and Prosperity (KDŽP)
National Coalition (NK)
Direct Democracy (PD)
Fine at Home (DD)
Marian
Kotleba
Neo-
Nazism
8.04
14 / 150
10 / 150
Opposition
SR We Are Family (SR) Boris
Kollár
Right-wing
populism
6.63
11 / 150
9 / 150
Opposition
MH Most–Híd (MH) Árpád
Érsek
[b]
Hungarian
minority
interests
6.50
11 / 150
10 / 150
Government
#SIEŤ #Network (#SIEŤ) Ivan
Zuzula
 [sk]
Liberal
conservatism
5.61
10 / 150
0 / 150
[c] Government
(2016)
Opposition
(2016–2020)

Opinion polls

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Results

[edit]
Results of the election, showing vote strength for each party by district.

The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD), the Slovak National Party and Most–Híd, led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of Smer–SD, was defeated by the anti-corruption movement Ordinary People and Independent Personalities led by Igor Matovič. However, as no party or electoral coalition attained an absolute majority of seats, a post-election coalition was required to form a government.[1][2][3][4]

This election was also the first since 2006 where Smer–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats in the National Council. Also, it was the first time that no party representing Hungarian community was elected. The coalition of Progressive Slovakia and Together failed to meet the 7% threshold for two-party coalitions to enter the parliament by only 926 votes, surprising analysts, as they had been several percentage points above the threshold required in opinion polls as recently as a few days before the election, and polled above the threshold in exit polls taken on election day. The coalition submitted an electoral complaint with the Constitutional Court on 12 March seeking a recount, although they did not have any expectation it would significantly change the results, and only did so in order to clear doubts about the democratic process.[10] In total 820,411 votes fell below the electoral threshold, which is 28.47% of all valid votes.

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
OĽaNO-led coalition721,16625.03+14.0053+34
Direction – Social Democracy527,17218.29–9.9938–11
We Are Family237,5318.24+1.6117+6
Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia[d]229,6607.97–0.0717+3
Progressive SlovakiaTogether coalition200,7806.97New0New
Freedom and Solidarity[e]179,2466.22–5.8813–8
For the People166,3255.77New12New
Christian Democratic Movement134,0994.65–0.2900
Hungarian Community Togetherness112,6623.91–0.1400
Slovak National Party91,1713.16–5.480–15
Good Choice88,2203.06New0New
Homeland84,5072.93New0New
Bridge59,1742.05–4.450–11
Socialists.sk15,9250.55New0New
We Have Had Enough!9,2600.32New0New
Andrej Hlinka's Slovak People's Party [sk]8,1910.28New0New
Democratic Party [sk]4,1940.15+0.0700
Solidarity – Working Poor Movement [sk]3,2960.11New0New
Mayors and Independents [sk]2,0180.07New0New
Slovak Revival Movement [sk]1,9660.07New0New
Voice of the Right [sk]1,8870.07New0New
Labour of the Slovak Nation1,2610.04New0New
99% – Civic Voice9910.03New0New
Slovak League [sk]8090.03New0New
Total2,881,511100.001500
Valid votes2,881,51198.88
Invalid/blank votes32,6981.12
Total votes2,914,209100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,432,41965.75
Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic

Results by region

[edit]
Region OĽaNO Smer SR ĽSNS PSSPOLU SaS KDH MKÖ/MKS SNS DV VLASŤ Bridge Other parties
Bratislava Region 26.32 12.04 6.42 4.62 14.24 12.26 9.18 4.22 0.86 1.96 3.00 2.53 1.02 1.33
Trnava Region 28.08 14.58 7.37 6.59 5.98 5.35 4.67 3.08 11.44 2.19 2.13 2.20 4.83 1.51
Trenčín Region 23.97 23.44 9.82 9.23 6.57 5.64 4.55 3.85 0.02 3.95 3.34 3.52 0.19 1.91
Nitra Region 23.03 17.76 8.28 7.36 5.16 4.95 4.32 2.73 12.31 2.99 2.79 2.29 4.45 1.58
Žilina Region 24.94 20.58 8.52 9.71 6.02 5.59 4.72 6.60 0.03 4.73 3.23 3.51 0.16 1.66
Banská Bystrica Region 21.68 20.41 9.25 10.62 6.27 5.47 4.85 3.03 4.11 3.10 3.24 2.66 3.24 2.07
Prešov Region 25.63 20.99 8.39 8.50 4.37 4.08 6.15 8.37 0.04 3.69 3.54 3.51 0.70 2.04
Košice Region 26.28 17.54 8.36 7.76 5.46 5.19 6.51 4.41 4.66 2.65 3.07 3.09 2.72 2.30
Foreign 14.11 2.37 1.46 4.52 33.30 8.75 27.11 2.82 0.81 0.36 0.67 2.03 0.36 1.33
Total 25.03 18.29 8.24 7.97 6.96 6.22 5.77 4.65 3.90 3.16 3.06 2.93 2.05 1.73

Distribution of seats for individual parties

[edit]
Distribution of seats for individual parties
Club Parties Seats +/–
OĽaNO Ordinary People and Independent Personalities 45 +29
Christian Union 5 +5
NOVA 2 0
Change from Below 1 0
Smer Direction – Social Democracy 38 –11
We Are Family We Are Family 17 +6
ĽSNS Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia 14 0
Christian Democracy – Life and Prosperity 3 +3
SaS Freedom and Solidarity 11 –9
Civic Conservative Party 2 +1
For the People For the People 12 +12

Government formation

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On 4 March, Matovič was tasked by the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová, to form a new government.[11] On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity, and For the People, though they had not agreed upon a common governing program. He has not disclosed his picks for the new cabinet but said that his movement would retain the finance ministry and Richard Sulík, the leader of Freedom and Solidarity, would be the Ministry of Economy.[12]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Peter Pellegrini served as electoral leader at the top of the party list and Robert Fico served as party chairman.
  2. ^ Árpád Érsek served as electoral leader at the top of the party list and Béla Bugár served as party chairman.
  3. ^ In September 2016, #SIEŤ's parliamentary group ceased to exist and its MPs served as non-affiliated. In May 2017, the last party's MP left the party and it lost its parliamentary representation.
  4. ^ Including KDŽP, NK, PD and Good at Home members integrated within the ĽSNS party list
  5. ^ Including OKS members integrated within the SaS party list

References

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  1. ^ a b "Anti-corruption party wins Slovakia election". BBC News. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Slovakia election: seismic shift as public anger ousts dominant Smer-SD party". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 1 March 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Slovakia's anti-corruption opposition party wins election". euronews. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b Mortkowitz, Siegfried (29 February 2020). "Anti-corruption opposition wins Slovakia election". POLITICO. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. ^ "New Slovak Government and Posts". Nový Čas. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Slovakia Národná rada (National Council) Electoral System". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Prieskum: Voľby by vyhral Smer, OĽaNO-NOVA mimo parlamentu". Pravda (in Slovak). 9 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Hlasovací preukaz, Ministerstvo vnútra SR - Verejná správa" (in Slovak). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Voľba poštou, Ministerstvo vnútra SR - Verejná správa" (in Slovak). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  10. ^ Francelová, Nina Hrabovská (12 March 2020). "PS/Spolu has submitted an election complaint. What are the odds the results might change?". The Slovak Spectator. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Slovak President Asks Corruption Fighter to Form New Government". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Slovak election winner secures four-party coalition with cabinet deal". Reuters. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.