2012 Slovak parliamentary election

none October 2020 Slovakia parliamentary no 2010 Slovak parliamentary election 2010 2016 Slovak parliamentary election 2016 All 150 seats in the National Council 76 10 March 2012 58.90% ( 0.25 pp) 130x130px Robert Fico 837x1161.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Robert Fico Smer 62 seats, 34.79% 83 21 1,134,280 44.41% 9.62 pp Ján Figeľ 2011.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Ján Figeľ Christian Democratic Movement 15 seats, 8.52% 16 1 225,361 8.82% 0.30 pp Igor Matovič after an interview (2020) (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Igor Matovič Ordinary People and Independent Personalities Did not exist 16 New 218,537 8.55% New Béla Bugár (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Béla Bugár Most–Híd 14 seats, 8.12% 13 1 176,088 6.90% 1.22 pp ST9 5186 (8105604565) (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Mikuláš Dzurinda Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party 28 seats, 15.42% 11 17 155,744 6.09% 9.33 pp Richard Sulík -2011- (cropped 1).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Richard Sulík Freedom and Solidarity 22 seats, 12.14% 11 11 150,266 5.88% 6.26 pp 2012 Slovak legislative election - Vote Strength.svg Results of the election, showing vote strength by district Prime Minister Iveta Radičová Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party Robert Fico Direction – Social Democracy Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 10 March 2012 to elect the 150 members of the National Council. The elections followed the fall of Prime Minister Iveta Radičová's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party-led coalition in October 2011 over a no confidence vote her government had lost because of its support for the European Financial Stability Fund. Amidst a major corruption scandal involving local center-right politicians, former Prime Minister Robert Fico's Direction – Social Democracy won an absolute majority of seats. Background On 11 October 2011, the National Council of the Slovak Republic, the parliament of Slovakia, voted on whether to approve the expansion of the European Financial Stability Fund. As Slovakia was the last eurozone country to vote on the measure, prime minister Iveta Radičová of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ) made it a vote of confidence. The motion was called on the grounds, according to the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, that Slovakia, the second poorest eurozone country, should not bail out richer countries such as Greece in the interest of bank re-capitalisation. The motion then failed by 21 votes after SaS and Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD) abstained.Rob Cameron https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15265987 BBC News – Slovakia votes down eurozone bailout expansion plans BBC 12 October 2011http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/260859/slovak-opposition-ready-to-vote-for-efsf-urges-election Slovak lawmakers reject eurozone's revamped EFSF rescue fund Bangkok Post 12 October 2011 Smer-SD then came to an agreement with the governing coalition to support the measure in what party chairman and former prime minister Robert Fico called "the most important document of this period." He also explained the first round rejection of the measure as "saying 'no' to a rightist government, but we're saying 'yes' to the rescue fund." As per the agreement between the two parties, foreign minister Mikuláš Dzurinda (SDKÚ) said that, in return for Smer's support, a snap election would be called: "We decided that as the first point of [Thursday's] parliamentary session, we will work on a proposal to shorten the voting period, with the goal of organising an election on 10 March. Immediately after [13 October or 14 October] we will debate proposals related to the EFSF."Gavin Hewitt https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15271141 Slovak rivals reach deal to back EU bailout fund BBC News 15 October 2011 On 13 October, following pressure from the European Union, which was in turn warned by the United States and China to get its finances in order, the motion was passed by a vote of 114–30 with 3 abstentions.http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/10/20111013152656918885.html Slovakia approves expanded EU-bailout fund – Europe Al Jazeera English 4 October 2011 15 October 2011 Participating parties Party Ideology Political position Leader Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) Social democracyLeft-wing populism Centre-left Robert Fico Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) Christian democracySocial conservatism Centre-right Ján Figeľ Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) PopulismAnti-corruption Centre Igor Matovič Bridge (Most–Híd) Hungarian minority interestsChristian democracy Centre-right Béla Bugár Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ–DS) Liberal conservatismChristian democracy Centre-right Mikuláš Dzurinda Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) LiberalismRight-libertarianism Centre-right Richard Sulík Campaign The number of competing political parties in the 2012 elections was the highest since the fall of communism in Slovakia in 1989. All participating parties had to register 90 days before the election and pay a fee of 16 596 euro (the fee is refunded to all parties who reach at least 2% of votes). All Slovak citizens are allowed to vote except for convicted felons in prison (only those, who were convicted for serious offenses), people declared ineligible to perform legal acts (legally insane) by court and citizens under 18 years of age.National Council Elections - Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic Numerous political scandals overshadowed the economic issues which led to the fall of the previous government: Controversial wiretapping by the Military Defense Intelligence (VOS) (The controversy is not of the wiretapping itself, but of evidence discovered during the wiretapping implicating the Governing Coalition 1998-2006 2010-2012 of major corruption) Gorilla scandal – a major political scandal surrounding corruption at the highest level in the governmenthttps://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/01/scandal-slovakia K.M. Scandal in Slovakia: The multi-million euro gorilla The Economist 27 January 2012 12 March 2012 In the run-up to the elections the Gorilla scandal (secret recordings of leading politicians in 2005–2006 showing political corruption) shook the political scene.http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/45040/2/polls_predict_no_clear_outcome_yet.html Polls predict no clear outcome yet Beata Balogová Peter Bagin The Slovak Spectator 16 January 2012 The campaign was openly criticised for being the first one since the fall of communism in which political scandals and personal attacks replaced policy discussion. An open declaration condemning the campaign was signed by 16 prominent Slovaks, including economist Juraj Stern, actor Milan Lasica and sociologist Martin Bútora.http://www.ta3.com/clanok/10773/uroven-predvolebnej-kampane-je-podla-osobnosti-kultury-zalostna.html Level of pre-election campaign is grim according to personalities of culture TA3 5 March 2012 10 March 2012 The campaign officially started on 18 February and continued up to, and including, election day. Opinion polls In January 2012, polls projected that a new centre-right party, Ordinary People, would enter the National Council.http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/45101/2/gorilla_continues_its_political_rampage.html Gorilla continues its political rampage The Slovak Spectator 20 January 2012 Party Last election September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 Smer 34.8% (62) 43.1% (70) 43.5% 45.2% (79) 43.9% (74) 41.8% (81) 37.3% (69) 40% (73) KDH 8.5% (15) 9.0% (15) 9.7% 9.9% (17) 10.0% (17) 9.3% (18) 10.3% (19) 12% (22) Most–Híd 8.1% (14) 5.9% (9) 6.9% 7.0% (12) 8.3% (14) 6.4% (13) 6.0% (11) 7% (13) SDKÚ-DS 15.4% (28) 12.8% (21) 12.2% 11.3% (20) 10.2% (17) 8.3% (16) 6.1% (11) 6% (11) SaS 12.1% (22) 8.0% (13) 8.2% 5.6% (13) 7.5% (9) 6.4% (12) 5.9% (11) 6% (11) OL part of SaS list – – 2.9% 5.8% (10) 5.2% (10) 8.9% (16) 5.5% (10) SMK-MKP 4.3% 5.3% (8) 4.2% 3.6% 2.8% 3.4% 2.4% 5.5% (10) SNS 5.1% (9) 8.5% (14) 6.4% 5.4% (9) 5.6% (9) 4.8% 4.2% 4.5% 99% - – – – – 4.6% 6.9% (13) 4% ĽS-HZDS 4.3% 3.0% 4.7% 2.5% 2.1% 1.5% 1.8% 1.5% Others 7.2% 4.4% 4.3% 4.7% 5.7% 8.3% 6.7% Source: Focus ResearchFocus Research: 2011/09, 2011/11, 2011/12, 2012/01, 2012/02 MVKhttp://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/45636/10/election_2012_poll_smer_on_40_olano_and_smk_on_course_for_seats.html ELECTION 2012: Poll: Smer on 40%; OĽaNO and SMK on course for seats Spectator.sme.sk 20 January 2010 12 March 2012 Conduct The day before the election, about 1,000 protesters in Bratislava, the national capital, protested against the corruption brought to light by the Gorilla scandal, which later turned violent. Voting took place between 7:00 and 22:00 at 5,956 polling stations. The Slovak Spectator reported that former Slovak citizens who had been granted Hungarian citizenship were prevented from voting because of an amendment to the Citizenship Act in 2010 which mandated that those who acquire citizenship of another country automatically have their Slovak citizenship rescinded.http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/45645/10/election_2012_some_slovak_voters_prevented_from_voting_by_officials.html Election 2012: Some Slovak voters prevented from voting by officials The Slovak Spectator 10 March 2012 12 March 2012 Results thumb|Breakdown of results by voteshare in each district. File:2012 Slovak National Council composition chart.svg Direction – Social Democracy 1134280 +9.63 83 +21 Christian Democratic Movement 225361 +0.30 16 +1 Ordinary People and Independent Personalities 218537 New 16 New Most–Híd 176088 –1.22 13 –1 Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party 155744 –9.32 11 –17 Freedom and Solidarity 150266 –6.26 11 –11 Slovak National Party 116420 –0.51 0 –9 Party of the Hungarian Community 109483 –0.04 0 0 99% – Civic Voice 40488 New 0 New People's Party Our Slovakia 40460 +0.25 0 0 Zmena zdola 33155 New 0 New Party of Freedom of Speech – Nora Mojsejová 31159 New 0 New #FFD700 People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia 23772 –3.39 0 0 Communist Party of Slovakia 18583 –0.10 0 0 Nation and Justice – Our party 16234 New 0 New #007FFF Green Party 10832 New 0 New Law and Justice 10604 New 0 New Free Forum 8908 New 0 New Greens 7860 +0.18 0 0 #9ACD32 Our Region 4859 New 0 New #DE6FA1 Party of the Democratic Left 4844 –2.24 0 0 Ordinary People 4320 New 0 New Party of Self-Employed of Slovakia 3963 New 0 New #FF5300 Party of Citizens of Slovakia 3836 New 0 New Party of Roma Union of Slovakia 2891 New 0 New #000000 Party +1 Voice 779 New 0 New #0F4D92 33472 0 4392451 Volby Reactions Although Direction won an absolute majority, Fico announced on election night that he would be willing to consult with other parties if they so wished. He also said that: "The European Union can lean on Smer because we realise that Slovakia, as a small country living in Europe and wanting to live in Europe ... desires to maintain the eurozone and the euro as a strong European currency." However, no other parties were willing to form coalition with Smer, leading Fico to form the first one-party government in Slovakia since 1993. Analysis The Economist called Fico "one of Europe's most successful centre-left politicians" after Smer-SD's win. It suggested that the "big loser" was the SDKÚ-DS' Dzurinda as a former prime minister "barely squeaked" into parliament and that, along with the SaS, were punished by voters for their failure to support the previous government's EU-backed Greek bailout. It further cited the high voter turnout (59.1) saying that Slovaks had "matured politically" for not abstaining or threatening to invalidate the poll, yet it still cited smaller protests that were "rowdy." It pointed to the OLaNO's newcomer status as "starry-eyed" in attempting to "harness voters' discontent" and that as a result of the party's showing it would be "breathing down KDH's neck." The Economist pointed out that this was the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia that any party had won an absolute majority, though Smer-SD fell seven seats short of the three-fifths majority needed to unilaterally amend the constitution.11 March 2012 Slovakia's election: Slovakia turns left The Economist https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/03/slovakias-election See also List of members of the National Council of Slovakia (2012–16) References External links Slovak Election Data Project Category:Parliamentary elections in Slovakia Slovakia Category:2012 in Slovakia Category:March 2012 in Europe