Corruption and democracy take centre stage in Slovakia’s presidential election

The people of Slovakia head to the polls on Saturday to pick a new president. Slovak media regard this as a pivotal election will determine the future of the country. Commentators believe the election will decide whether Slovakia will stay a country mired in corruption and clientelism, or finally move towards the rule of law and democracy.

Zuzana Caputova, a 45-year-old lawyer and activist who only entered politics one year ago, could deliver that change. She is running in Saturday’s presidential election, and observers believe she has a good chance of winning.

DW reminds how the election is happening against the backdrop of the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, who were assassinated in a small town east of the Slovak capital, Bratislava.

Kuciak’s work had focused on the machinations of and ties between Slovak businessmen and politicians. His murder sent a shock wave though the county and precipitated the biggest political crisis since Slovak independence in 1993. Kuciak’s investigative reports, published after his death, and subsequent research conducted by Slovak media outlets exposed close ties between the country’s decision-makers, corrupt businessmen and criminals.

The revelations sparked public outrage and led to the biggest protests since Czechoslovakia’s 1989 Velvet Revolution. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets, demanding Slovakia become a respectable country again.

Granted, Slovakia’s powerful Prime Minister Robert Fico and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak resigned following Kuciak’s assassination. Yet in the eyes of many Slovaks, that did little to improve the country’s political situation. Which is why on February 21, 2019, exactly one year after Kuciak’s death, some ten thousand people took to the streets demanding change.

According to recent surveys, Caputova is the most popular of the presidential candidates. She could, in fact, take more 40 percent of the vote — whereas Maros Sefcovic, her closest rival who currently serves as the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, is projected to receive about 25 percent of the vote. One survey even predicts Caputova winning over 50 percent, which would mean no runoff election would be necessary two weeks later. Many Slovak people want someone who will fight for the rule of law and push for democratic principles to be honored.

Yet the country is ideologically divided, with a large share of Slovak people also supporting the government’s nationalist and populist stance. The coalition government, which is made up of Social Democrats (SMER), a Hungarian minority party and a far-right party, is known to disseminate divisive propaganda. The Social Democrats, in particular, have repeatedly railed against migrants, US billionaire George Soros, the EU, investigative journalists and Caputova.

via DW