Čaputová vs. Šefčovič: Presidential election is now narrowed down to two candidates

Results of the first round did not bring any surprises.

Zuzana Caputova on election nightZuzana Caputova on election night (Source: TASR)

In line with general expectations raised by the last opinion polls published two weeks before the presidential election, Zuzana Čaputová won the first round of the election.

"The results have shown Slovakia is calling for a change," Čaputová told journalists after the first preliminary results of the vote were published on Saturday night.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

Maroš Šefčovič, who ended with 18.7 percent of the vote, will challenge Čaputová (40.5 percent) in the second round of the vote on March 30. When he spoke to journalists at midnight after it became clear that he was going to be Čaputová's competitor, Šefčovič stressed that this was a fresh start.

SkryťTurn off ads

"The cards will be dealt anew; we all start on the same starting line," he said.

Observers, however, pointed to the big difference in the vote count between the two candidates who succeeded to the run-off round: with more than 98 percent of the votes counted, Čaputová had more than 852,000 votes, while Šefčovič had over 392,500. Analysts are clear that Šefčovič now needs to fish for support among the voters of Štefan Harabin and Marian Kotleba.

Read also: A vote for Čaputová and against Smer Read more 

Čaputová: It paid off to be authentic

Čaputová thanked voters in the languages of national minorities too. She stressed that she has bet on authenticity in her campaign, and it paid off.

"One does not need to compromise their values, one can stay authentic," she summed up her experience from the campaign.

The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.sk
Subscribe now for full access

I already have subscription - Sign in

Subscription provides you with:
  • Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk
  • Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail)
  • PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper, The Slovak Spectator, emailed directly to you
  • Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk

Top stories

Janka, a blogger, during the inauguration of the first flight to Athens with Aegean Airlines at the airport in Bratislava on September 14, 2023.

A Czech rail operator connects Prague and Ukraine, Dominika Cibulková endorses Pellegrini, and Bratislava events.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad