It is only five months since the Slovaks voted in the parliamentary elections, and now they are preparing to elect a president – the incumbent, Zuzana Čaputová, has announced that she will not be seeking another term.
The campaign ahead of them will be no calmer than the elections back in September, although the leftist presidential candidate, Peter Pellegrini, has been calling for calm. His photo smiles out from billboards across this deeply divided nation, split almost exactly in half between the supporters of the nationalist-left government coalition and the pro-European opposition.
Presidential elections the weekend before Easter and a runoff two weeks later will be the first test for the new government that started its term with Viktor Orbán-style “reforms”. The other candidate is the former minister of foreign affairs, Ivan Korčok. According to the polls, Pellegrini is just ahead.
The current prime minister is Robert Fico, an ex-communist who is now in his fourth term. Tens of thousands of people have been protesting in the capital, Bratislava, and in two dozen other cities across Slovakia against proposed criminal law reforms, which will grant impunity for accused politicians and the sponsors of government parties.
Citizens have been in the streets since December, in freezing cold, wind and rain. One of the most popular chants: “Underling”. This is the nickname given to Pellegrini for his submissive attitude towards Fico.
And there is a strong sense here of a country in a political “bad mood”, a term famously coined by the late Czech and Czechoslovak president Václav Havel to describe the ailments of the post-communist transformation.
This was highlighted when Korčok entered the stage of a community theatre on one of his rallies, in the central town of Zvolen on one of his campaign stops (current slogan: “On the road that unites”). More than 100 people came to hear him talk.
“Blood gushes in Slovak politics; it’s like boxing,” Korčok said, in front of a dark red theatre curtain as he addressed the aggressive, hateful Trumpian mood that dominates Slovak politics.
“The country does not need a president who will smile at them,” Korčok said. “The president is here to make the nation smile”. Indeed, the current “bad mood” and a big dose of anger is forcing many Slovaks, especially the younger ones, to think about abandoning the country altogether.
According to a recently published opinion poll, up to a quarter of adults are considering emigration – one of the main reasons they give is dissatisfaction with the country’s politics and society.
“More people will leave this country if it continues like this,“ lamented 67-year-old Mária Kánová as she entered the rally with her husband, daughter, and son-in-law. She has decided to vote for Korčok to stop this brain drain. She queues up to take a picture with him, believing this is not a lost fight. “My children attended the anti-government protests,” she said with pride in her voice.
At one of his many rallies, the friendly crowd roared in applause as Korčok said: “They act as if they own this state. As president, I will never forget that I serve the citizens… We should take back the word ‘homeland’ from these self-proclaimed patriots.” The real fight in the polls is only a few weeks away.
Branislav Ondrášik reports for the Slovak daily SME
