Slovak Parliamentary Elections: OLANO Secures Clear Victory

(Patria) – The center-right opposition party Ordinary People won the parliamentary elections in Slovakia with 25% support and 53 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The party's victory is seen as a shift to the right for Slovakia.

Since 2006, the country has been led by the social democratic populists SMER-SD, headed by former Prime Minister Robert Fico. In 2016, they won 28.3% support based on an anti-migrant stance.

However, in these elections, SMER-SD came in second place with 18.3% of the votes and 38 seats. The decline in popularity is also attributed to the unsolved murder of journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018, who was investigating corruption within government ranks, misuse of EU funds, and alleged connections between government officials and the Italian mafia, writes Euronews.

The leader of the winning party, Ordinary People (OLANO), Igor Matovič, told the media that he wants to create 'the best government in Slovakia's history'.

– The best, without corruption. I hope it will be a government for all people in Slovakia, not just for the rich, he promises.

Matovič (46) based his entire election campaign on attacks against former Prime Minister Fico (SMER-SD) and an anti-corruption narrative. He is most likely to become prime minister and enter into a coalition with the Freedom and Solidarity party (13 seats) and the conservative For the People (12 seats).

The millionaire Matovič, also known for his Western orientation, also wants to include the ally of French right-winger Marine Le Pen in the coalition – We Are Family, a populist right-wing group that came in third with 17 seats.

The goal of the winning OLANO party is to establish new anti-corruption measures, including greater transparency of processes at the state level, as well as reform of the judiciary and public procurement. The party also plans to improve healthcare by replacing old hospitals with new ones that comply with EU standards.

Some analysts believe that Ordinary People (OLANO) will not support the liberalization of society, which includes greater rights for homosexual couples.