2024-03-23 15:53:04
About 4.4 million Slovak voters have the right to vote in today’s elections for a new head of state, DPA reported.
Polling stations are open from 07:00 to 22:00 local time. The results are expected to be announced tomorrow afternoon.
If, as expected, no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a second round of elections will take place on April 6.
Among the nine candidates who will participate in the elections, there are no women, BTA reports.
The current president, Zuzana Chaputova, is not running for a second five-year term, although her popularity continues to grow.
According to opinion polls, there are two clear front-runners. Liberal and former foreign minister Ivan Korchok promises to be a counterweight to Prime Minister Robert Fico’s left-wing nationalist government.
Liberal Social Democrat Peter Pellegrini, who is part of the ruling coalition, is calling on Slovaks to overcome the country’s crippling political divide. He wants to maintain good relations with both the government and the opposition.
Currently, Slovak politics and society are deeply divided, and the climate between the government and the opposition is poisoned by aggressive accusations, DPA notes. There are debates about the country’s position on the war in Ukraine, but also on the rule of law and democracy. The country had repeatedly held mass protests against the government.