Slovakia: will opposition candidate Korčok become president?
The non-aligned former foreign minister Ivan Korčok secured an unexpected victory in the first round of the Slovakian presidential election with 42.5 percent of the vote. Most polls had put Peter Pellegrini, parliamentary speaker and coalition partner of the country's controversial Prime Minister Robert Fico, in front, but instead he was left trailing behind with 37 percent. The two now face a second round of voting. Commentators generally see the interim result as a positive signal.
The grass really is greener on the other side
Népszava reflects on the difference between Hungary and Slovakia:
“Slovakia's most popular politician, Peter Pellegrini, has clearly been sanctioned by the voters because he is Fico's candidate, following the Orban model. And the many thousands of people who took part in the demonstration in support of Korčok on Sunday evening have once again made it clear that they will prevent - or at least try to prevent - the dominance of the Fico-Pellegrini foreign policy and government control of the public media. Sometimes there's no shame in learning from your neighbour. What is a shame is that Hungarians have never protested against their government's foreign policy rampage or its anti-EU stance.”
Tough, but it could be worse
The split in Slovakia is both good and bad news, writes Új Szó:
“Ivan Korčok showed a mixture of surprise and joy, but you don't have to be an experienced political scientist to realise that he is facing tough ascent. It's not just about potentially winning an election. It's also about what comes next. ... Slovakia as a whole showed itself to be a deeply divided country on Saturday. ... But let's look at the positive side first! Unlike in some of our neighbouring states, here in Slovakia we can still say that for the time being no candidate or party dominates the political landscape disproportionately.”
This country is more than Fico
Denník N breathes a sigh of relief:
“Depression and hopelessness spread after the parliamentary elections in which Robert Fico won and formed a government with Peter Pellegrini. ... Many people who see Slovakia as free, democratic and part of the West had the feeling that defeat would mean the end and that Fico would rule here for years to come. ... Korčok's victory is proof that it doesn't have to be that way. ... The most important message of the first round is quite simple: Slovakia is not Fico. There are still many people who don't want him to drag us towards Russia in order to control the media, intimidate free people, rape the judiciary and give his henchmen amnesty.”
PM unwittingly helped Korčok
The prime minister's drastic course has frightened the Slovaks, says Hospodářské noviny, explaining the result:
“There is no doubt that Korčok has been greatly helped by the way Prime Minister Fico's government has been pushing hard to change the laws surrounding the General Prosecutor's Office and the police, how it is unscrupulously trying to control public space and restrict NGOs and independent media, and how it has radically reoriented the country's foreign policy towards the east. The growing number of enquiries from Slovakian experts in fields such as culture or the media about the possibility of finding a job in the Czech Republic shows just how bad things are.”
Democracy at stake here
The Süddeutsche Zeitung also sees the election result as a stop sign for Prime Minister Fico:
“It shows that even some of the government's supporters don't want Fico to have a completely free hand. After all, he is set to become the EU's next threat to the rule of law and put the country's EU funding at risk. As with so many elections in western, democratic countries, in Slovakia, with its 5.4 million inhabitants, it is no longer just a question of whether a candidate is conservative or progressive, a little more Catholic or a little more secular. It's about preserving the democratic system.”
Korčok as a vital counterweight
Obozrevatel hopes that the winner of the first round of voting will also prevail in the run-off:
“Why are these elections important, also for the West and Ukraine? It's about whether Fico's team manages to win the third key post in the country, the presidency. After the parliamentary elections last autumn, there was a political upheaval in Slovakia. Despite the rather symbolic importance of the presidency, it would now be at least a partial equaliser if the pro-Western candidate Korčok, who is in opposition to Fico's team, were to win it.”