IN THE last regional elections in 2009, Smer almost doubled the number of seats it previously held in the regional parliaments, from the 70 seats it won in 2005 to 137 seats.
It did so either on its own or in coalition with other members of the then ruling national coalition, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the Slovak National Party (SNS).
In the regions in which Smer and HZDS alone were in coalitions, they were the most successful of all the parties, winning 101 of the total 408 elected regional parliamentary seats, a 24.8-percent share.
Independent candidates captured 55 seats (13.5 percent), while the centre-right coalitions involving the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) won 50 seats, representing a 12.3-percent share, according to the Slovak Statistics Office.
The remaining 65 seats went to other parties, including the then Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), Most-Híd, the SNS and smaller parties, as well as to what was called the ‘wide Slovak coalition’ in Nitra Region made up of both ruling and opposition parties, formed to stand against the SMK.
Source: TSS archive
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