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Politics of Slovakia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the parliament and it can be exercised in some cases also by the government or directly by citizens.
Executive power is exercised by the government led by the Prime Minister. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The President is the head of the state. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Slovakia a " flawed democracy " in 2022. [2] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Slovakia was 2023 the 18th most electoral democratic country in the world. [3]
Before the 1989 revolution, Czechoslovakia was a socialist dictatorship ruled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, technically together with the coalition of the so-called National Front. Before the free democratic elections could take place after the revolution, a transitional government was created. 1989 President of Czechoslovakia Gustáv Husák sworn in the Government of National Understanding (Czech : Vláda národního porozumění, Slovak : Vláda národného porozumenia) headed by Marián Čalfa and he himself abdicated. It consisted of 10 communists and 9 non-communists and its main goal was to prepare for democratic elections, to establish market economy in the country and to start preparing a new constitution.
On 8–9 June 1990, the Czechoslovak parliamentary election of 1990 took place. Čalfa's second government was disbanded on 27 June 1990, when it was replaced by the Government of National Sacrifice (Czech : Vláda národní oběti, Slovak : Vláda národnej obete), also headed by Marián Čalfa. On 5–6 June 1992, the last elections in Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak parliamentary election of 1992 took place. Čalfa's third government was disbanded on 2 July 1992, when it was replaced by the Caretaker Government of Jan Stráský (Czech : Vláda Jana Stráského, Slovak : Vláda Jana Stráského), headed by Jan Stráský. The caretaker government was disbanded on 31 December 1992 together with the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic.
Due to federalism, immediately after the 1989 revolution, two national governments (one for the Czech Republic, one for Slovakia) were created as well under the federal Czechoslovak government. In Slovakia it was headed by Milan Čič and it was established on 12 December 1989 and disbanded on 26 June 1990. On 8–9 June 1990, the Slovak parliamentary election of 1990 took place together with the federal Czechoslovak elections. Čič's government was followed by the First Government of Vladimír Mečiar (1990-1991), Government of Ján Čarnogurský (1991-1992) and the Second Government of Vladimír Mečiar (1992-1994). On 5–6 June the Slovak parliamentary election of 1992 took place.
In September 2023, populist left-wing Smer-SSD, led by former prime minister Robert Fico, won the general election, taking 79 seats in a 150-seat parliament with its allies, the centre-left Hlas and nationalist SNS parties. The three parties agreed to form a coalition government. [4] On 25 October 2023, Robert Fico became Slovakia's new prime minister, announcing that the new government will stop Slovakia's military aid to Ukraine. [5] At his first EU leaders meeting in Brussels, Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that Slovakia will not support further military aid for Ukraine nor support further sanctions against Russia because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. [6]
The Constitution of the Slovak Republic was ratified 1 September 1992 and became effective 1 October 1992 (some parts 1 January 1993). It was amended in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president and again in February 2001 due to EU admission requirements. The civil law system is based on Austro-Hungarian codes. The legal code was modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge the Marxist–Leninist legal theory. Slovakia accepts the compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction with reservations.
Office | Name | Party | Since |
---|---|---|---|
President | Zuzana Čaputová | Independent | 15 June 2019 |
Prime Minister | Robert Fico | Smer | 25 October 2023 |
The president is the head of state and the formal head of the executive, though with very limited powers. The president is elected by direct, popular vote, under the two round system, for a five-year term. In March 2019, Zuzana Čaputová was elected as the first female President of Slovakia. She was a member of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, which had no seats in parliament. [7]
Following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president. Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister has to receive the majority in the parliament. From July 2006 till July 2010 the coalition consisted of Smer, SNS and HZDS. After the 2010 elections a coalition was formed by the former opposition parties SDKÚ, KDH and Most–Híd and newcomer SaS. From 2012 to 2016, after the premature elections, whole government consisted of members and nominees of the party SMER-SD, which also had majority in the parliament. The 2016 parliamentary election gave a coalition of parties SMER-SD, SNS and Most-Híd. After the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities won the election and Igor Matovič became the Prime Minister. [8] In April 2021, Prime Minister Eduard Heger was sworn in two days after the resignation of his predecessor Igor Matovič. Heger was a close ally of Matovic and deputy head of his Ordinary People party. [9] [10]
Office | Name | Party | Since |
---|---|---|---|
Speaker of the National Council | Peter Pellegrini | Hlas | 25 October 2023 |
Slovakia's sole constitutional and legislative body is the 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic. Delegates are elected for 4-year terms on the basis of proportional representation.
The National Council considers and approves the Constitution, constitutional statutes and other legal acts. It also approves the state budget. It elects some officials specified by law as well as the candidates for the position of a Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic and the Prosecutor General. Prior to their ratification, the parliament should approve all important international treaties. Moreover, it gives consent for dispatching of military forces outside of Slovakia's territory and for the presence of foreign military forces on the territory of the Slovak Republic.
18 years of age; universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
The president is elected by direct, popular vote, under the two round system, for a five-year term. Two rounds of the last election were held on March 16 and 30, 2019.
Members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (Slovak : Národná rada Slovenskej Republiky), are elected directly for a 4-year term, under the proportional representation system. Like the Netherlands, the country is a single multi-member constituency. Voters may indicate their preferences within the semi-open list. The election threshold is 5%.
The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD), the Slovak National Party and Most–Híd, led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of Smer–SD, was defeated by the anti-corruption movement Ordinary People and Independent Personalities led by Igor Matovič. However, as no party or electoral coalition attained an absolute majority of seats, a post-election coalition was required to form a government. [11] [12] [13] [14]
This election was also the first since 2006 where Smer–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats in the National Council. Also, it was the first time that no party representing Hungarian community was elected. The coalition of Progressive Slovakia and Together failed to meet the 7% threshold for two-party coalitions to enter the parliament by only 926 votes, surprising analysts, as they had been several percentage points above the threshold required in opinion polls as recently as a few days before the election, and polled above the threshold in exit polls taken on election day. The coalition submitted an electoral complaint with the Constitutional Court on 12 March seeking a recount, although they did not have any expectation it would significantly change the results, and only did so in order to clear doubts about the democratic process. [15] In total 820,411 votes fell below the electoral threshold, which is 28.47% of all valid votes.
Region | OĽaNO–NOVA–KÚ–ZZ | Smer | We Are Family | ĽSNS | PS–Together | SaS | For the People | KDH | MKÖ/MKS | SNS | Good Choice | Homeland | Bridge | Other parties |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bratislava Region | 26.32 | 12.04 | 6.42 | 4.62 | 14.24 | 12.26 | 9.18 | 4.22 | 0.86 | 1.96 | 3.00 | 2.53 | 1.02 | 1.33 |
Trnava Region | 28.08 | 14.58 | 7.37 | 6.59 | 5.98 | 5.35 | 4.67 | 3.08 | 11.44 | 2.19 | 2.13 | 2.20 | 4.83 | 1.51 |
Trenčín Region | 23.97 | 23.44 | 9.82 | 9.23 | 6.57 | 5.64 | 4.55 | 3.85 | 0.02 | 3.95 | 3.34 | 3.52 | 0.19 | 1.91 |
Nitra Region | 23.03 | 17.76 | 8.28 | 7.36 | 5.16 | 4.95 | 4.32 | 2.73 | 12.31 | 2.99 | 2.79 | 2.29 | 4.45 | 1.58 |
Žilina Region | 24.94 | 20.58 | 8.52 | 9.71 | 6.02 | 5.59 | 4.72 | 6.60 | 0.03 | 4.73 | 3.23 | 3.51 | 0.16 | 1.66 |
Banská Bystrica Region | 21.68 | 20.41 | 9.25 | 10.62 | 6.27 | 5.47 | 4.85 | 3.03 | 4.11 | 3.10 | 3.24 | 2.66 | 3.24 | 2.07 |
Prešov Region | 25.63 | 20.99 | 8.39 | 8.50 | 4.37 | 4.08 | 6.15 | 8.37 | 0.04 | 3.69 | 3.54 | 3.51 | 0.70 | 2.04 |
Košice Region | 26.28 | 17.54 | 8.36 | 7.76 | 5.46 | 5.19 | 6.51 | 4.41 | 4.66 | 2.65 | 3.07 | 3.09 | 2.72 | 2.30 |
Foreign | 14.11 | 2.37 | 1.46 | 4.52 | 33.30 | 8.75 | 27.11 | 2.82 | 0.81 | 0.36 | 0.67 | 2.03 | 0.36 | 1.33 |
Total | 25.03 | 18.29 | 8.24 | 7.97 | 6.96 | 6.22 | 5.77 | 4.65 | 3.90 | 3.16 | 3.06 | 2.93 | 2.05 | 1.73 |
Club | Parties | Seats | +/– | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
OĽaNO | Ordinary People and Independent Personalities | 45 | +29 | ||
Christian Union | 5 | +5 | |||
NOVA | 2 | 0 | |||
Change from Below | 1 | 0 | |||
Smer | Direction – Social Democracy | 38 | –11 | ||
We Are Family | We Are Family | 17 | +6 | ||
ĽSNS | Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia | 14 | 0 | ||
Christian Democracy Life and Prosperity – Alliance for Slovakia | 3 | +3 | |||
SaS | Freedom and Solidarity | 11 | –9 | ||
Civic Conservative Party | 2 | +1 | |||
For the People | For the People | 12 | +12 |
The Slovak political scene supports a wide spectrum of political parties including the communists (KSS) and the nationalists (SNS). New parties arise and old parties cease to exist or merge at a frequent rate. Major parties are members of the European political parties. Some parties have regional strongholds, for example SMK is supported mainly by the Hungarian minority living in southern Slovakia. Although the main political cleavage in the 1990s concerned the somewhat authoritarian policy of HZDS, the left-right conflict over economic reforms (principally between Direction - Social Democracy and Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party) has recently become the dominant power in Slovakia's politics.
The country's highest appellate forum is the Supreme Court (Najvyšší súd), the judges of which are elected by the National Council; below that are regional, district, and military courts. In certain cases the law provides for decisions of tribunals of judges to be attended by lay judges from the citizenry. Slovakia also has the Constitutional Court of Slovakia (Ústavný súd Slovenskej Republiky), which rules on constitutional issues. The 13 members of this court are appointed by the president from a slate of candidates nominated by Parliament.
In 2002 Parliament passed legislation which created a Judicial Council. This 18-member council, composed of judges, law professors, and other legal experts, is now responsible for the nomination of judges. All judges except those of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the president from a list proposed by the Judicial Council. The council also is responsible for appointing Disciplinary Senates in cases of judicial misconduct.
Slovakia is member of ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, European Audiovisual Observatory, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC[ clarification needed ], ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS[ clarification needed ] (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UPU, Visegrád Group, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party is a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Slovakia. The SDKÚ-DS was a member of the Centrist Democrat International and was a member of the European People's Party until 2018, when it was expelled due to inactivity.
Direction – Social Democracy, also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent prime minister Robert Fico.
The Slovak National Party is an ultranationalist political party in Slovakia. The party characterizes itself as a nationalist party based on both social and European Christian values.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006. Direction – Social Democracy emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 50 of the 150 seats. Its leader Robert Fico was appointed Prime Minister on 4 July 2006, leading a three-party centre-left populist coalition.
Pavol Paška was a Slovak politician who served as Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2014. He was a member of the Direction – Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 12 June 2010. The elections were contested by eighteen parties, six of which passed the 5% threshold for sitting in parliament. Despite the incumbent Smer of Prime Minister Robert Fico winning a plurality, the new government consisted of a coalition led by the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party's Iveta Radičová and included KDH, SaS and Most-Hid. However, her government fell on 11 October 2011 following a vote of no confidence with a new election called for 10 March 2012.
Slovakia, before 2023 known as Ordinary People and Independent Candidates, is a conservative political party in Slovakia. Founded in 2011 by former businessman Igor Matovič, the party has been characterized primarily as populist, championing anti-corruption, anti-elitist and anti-establishment sentiments.
Igor Matovič is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Slovakia.
Peter Pellegrini is a Slovak politician who is the president-elect of Slovakia. He currently serves as the Speaker of the National Council since September 2023 and was the prime minister of Slovakia from 2018 to 2020.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 5 March 2016 to elect the 150 members of the National Council. The ruling left-wing populist Direction – Social Democracy (SMER–SD) party remained the strongest party, but lost its majority. The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS), which led the government between 2000–06 and 2010–12, was defeated heavily, failing to cross the electoral threshold and losing its representation in the National Council. The centre-right Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) also failed to cross the threshold for the first time since 1990, whilst the far-right nationalist Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) entered parliament for the first time.
Robert Fico's Third Cabinet was government of Slovakia, headed by prime minister Robert Fico.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council.
Pellegrini's Cabinet is the former government of Slovakia, headed by prime minister Peter Pellegrini. It was formed on 22 March 2018, after the Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned, as a result of the popular protests following the murder of Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová. According to the Slovak Constitution, if the Prime Minister resigns, the entire government resigns as well. Nevertheless, the composition of the government was to a large extent the same as the previous government. All members of the Smer-SD, SNS and Most-Híd parties supported the re-constructed government.
Eduard Heger is a Slovak politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Slovakia from 1 April 2021 to 15 May 2023. He previously served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Igor Matovič. Heger was a member of the presidium of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) party which he left in March 2023 to take over the extra-parliamentary Blue Coalition party, subsequently rebranded as Democrats.
Voice – Social Democracy, also commonly referred to as Hlas, is a social-democratic and left-wing nationalist political party in Slovakia. It was founded in 2020 by dissidents from Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) led by former prime minister Peter Pellegrini. In October 2022, it was admitted as an associate member of the Party of European Socialists (PES), although its membership was later suspended in October 2023.
Early parliamentary elections were held in the Slovak Republic on 30 September 2023 to elect members of the National Council. Regular elections were scheduled to be held in 2024. However, on 15 December 2022 the government lost a no-confidence vote. Subsequently, the National Council amended the Constitution so that an early election could be held on 30 September 2023. This was the first snap election in the country since 2012.
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A constitutional referendum was held in Slovakia on 21 January 2023. Following the 2020 parliamentary election, in which the Direction – Slovak Social Democracy (SMER) was defeated by the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), opposition parties initiated a referendum to call a snap election.
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