The fact that Ivan Gašparovič, who was supported by governing coalition parties Smer and the Slovak National Party (SNS), won the presidential election demonstrates that Smer is the dominant party in Slovak politics, said political scientist Peter Horváth.
He added, in comments to the TASR newswire, that it is therefore very likely that the party will also win the next parliamentary elections, due next year.
According to another political scientist, Juraj Marušiak of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Gašparovič won thanks to his message of continuity and also by playing the Hungarian card, TASR wrote. However, Gašparovič’s opponent Iveta Radičová achieved a much better result than had been expected (she polled more than 44 percent) and has shown that she can attract many more voters than the political parties who backed her in the election, he said.
“Part of Gašparovič’s votes were votes against Radičová,” political scientist Rastislav Tóth told TASR. This means that they both received some votes that they would never have got under normal circumstances, he said.
Compiled by Michaela Stanková and Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
