2020 Slovak parliamentary election

2020 Slovak parliamentary election

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All 150 seats in the National Council 76 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	4,432,419 0.13%
Turnout	2,916,840 (65.81%) 5.99 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Igor Matovič Peter Pellegrini[a] Boris Kollár Party OĽaNO SMER–SD SR Last election 11.02%, 19 seats 28.28%, 49 seats 6.62%, 11 seats Seats won 53 38 17 Seat change 34 11 6 Popular vote 721,166 527,172 237,531 Percentage 25.02% 18.29% 8.24% Swing 14.00 pp 9.99 pp 1.62 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Marian Kotleba Richard Sulík Andrej Kiska Party ĽSNS SaS ZĽ Last election 8.04%, 14 seats 12.10%, 21 seats Did not exist Seats won 17 13 12 Seat change 3 8 New party Popular vote 229,660 179,246 166,325 Percentage 7.97% 6.22% 5.77% Swing 0.07 pp 5.88 pp New party
Results of the election, showing vote strength by district.
Government before election Pellegrini's cabinet SMER–SNS–MOST Government after election Matovič's cabinet OĽaNO–SR–SaS–ZĽ

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council.

The anti-corruption movement Ordinary People (OĽaNO) led by Igor Matovič emerged as the largest party, winning 53 seats. The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD), the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most–Híd, led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of Smer–SD, won only 38, with both the SNS and Most–Híd losing their parliamentary representation. It was the first time since the 2006 elections that Smer–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats.

As no party or electoral coalition won a majority of seats, a coalition government was needed.^[1][2][3][4] On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity and For the People, though they had not agreed upon a common governing program.

Background[]

Smer–SD won a plurality of seats in the 2016 election and formed a coalition government with moderate nationalist Slovak National Party, inter-ethnic Most–Híd, and centre-right #Network. Incumbent Prime Minister Robert Fico remained in office^[5] until 2018 when Peter Pellegrini took over.

The 2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia took place on 25 May 2019. With a turnout of 22.7%, the election was won by PS–SPOLU (20.1%), followed by Smer–SD (15.7%), ĽSNS (12.1%), KDH (9.7%), SaS (9.6%), and OĽaNO (5.3%).^[6]

Electoral system[]

The 150 members of the National Council were elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with an electoral threshold of 5% for single parties, 7% for coalitions of two or three parties, and 10% for coalitions of four or more parties. The election used the open list system, with seats allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. Voters were able to cast up to four preferential votes for candidates on the list of the party they voted for.^[7]

All participating parties must had register 90 days before election day and paid a deposit of €17,000, which would be refunded to all parties having gained at least 3% of the votes. All citizens of the Slovak Republic were allowed to vote except for convicted felons in prison (only those who were convicted for serious offences), people declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court, and citizens under 18 years of age. All citizens, who were 21 years of age or older on the election day and are permanent residents of Slovakia, were allowed to run as candidates except for prisoners, convicted felons, and those declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court.^[8]

Voters not present in their electoral district at the time of the elections were allowed to request a voting certificate (voličský preukaz), which allowed them to vote in any district regardless of their residency.^[9] Voters abroad on election day were allowed to request a postal vote.^[10] According to the Central Election Committee, approximately 20,000 citizens of the Slovak Republic living abroad had requested a postal vote for the election. The deadline for requests passed on 10 January 2020.

Leadership changes[]

The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and the Party of the Hungarian Community (SMK-MKP) were two parties which had not passed the 5% threshold in 2016 but gained more than 4% (4.9% for KDH and 4.1% for SMK-MKP). KDH had lost all of its 16 seats while SMK-MKP had been an extra-parliamentary party already. The KDH leader Ján Figeľ announced his resignation few days after the 2016 election. He was then replaced by on 11 June 2016.^[11] Leadership of the SMK-MKP, which was led by József Berényi, was taken over by on 11 June 2016.^[12]

On 12 August 2016, incumbent leader of coalition party #Network Radoslav Procházka announced he had no further intention to lead his party after a disastrous result in the election. A day later, at the party convention, it was decided that the new leader of the party would be , his fellow party member and incumbent Minister of Transportation and Construction. He was the only candidate to stand up for the post although he did not intend to run for the office.^[13]

On 15 March 2018, Robert Fico announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Slovakia which the President Andrej Kiska accepted. Peter Pellegrini, the incumbent Deputy Prime Minister for Investment and Informatisation, would become the new Prime Minister. Fico remained the party leader, and kept his parliamentary mandate. Pellegrini's cabinet was appointed on 22 March 2018.

Opinion polls[]

Results[]

Results of the election, showing vote strength for each party by district.

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.^{[14][15][16][17]} 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. The coalition of Progressive Slovakia and SPOLU 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.^[18]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	OĽANO–NOVA–KÚ–ZMENA ZDOLA	721,166	25.03	+14.00	53	+34
	Direction – Social Democracy	527,172	18.29	–9.99	38	–11
	We Are Family	237,531	8.24	+1.61	17	+6
	Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia	229,660	7.97	–0.07	17	+3
	Progressive Slovakia–SPOLU	200,780	6.97	New	0	New
	Freedom and Solidarity	179,246	6.22	–5.88	13	–8
	For the People	166,325	5.77	New	12	New
	Christian Democratic Movement	134,099	4.65	–0.29	0	0
	Hungarian Community Co-operation	112,662	3.91	–0.14	0	0
	Slovak National Party	91,171	3.16	–5.48	0	–15
	Good Choice	88,220	3.06	New	0	New
	Homeland	84,507	2.93	New	0	New
	Most–Híd	59,174	2.05	–4.45	0	–11
	Socialisti.sk	15,925	0.55	New	0	New
	We Have Had Enough!	9,260	0.32	New	0	New
	Andrej Hlinka's Slovak People's Party	8,191	0.28	New	0	New
	Democratic Party	4,194	0.15	+0.07	0	0
	Solidarity – Working Poverty Movement	3,296	0.11	New	0	New
	Mayors and Independents	2,018	0.07	New	0	New
	Slovak Revival Movement	1,966	0.07	New	0	New
	Voice of the Right	1,887	0.07	New	0	New
	Labour of the Slovak Nation	1,261	0.04	New	0	New
	99% – Civic Voice	991	0.03	New	0	New
	Slovak League	809	0.03	New	0	New
Total		2,881,511	100.00	–	150	0
Valid votes		2,881,511	98.79
Invalid/blank votes		35,329	1.21
Total votes		2,916,840	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		4,432,419	65.81
Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic

Government formation[]

On 4 March, Matovič was tasked by the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová, to form a new government.^[19] On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity, and For the People, though they had not agreed upon a common governing program. He has not disclosed his picks for the new cabinet but said that his movement would retain the finance ministry and Richard Sulík, the leader of Freedom and Solidarity, would be the Ministry of Economy.^[20]

References[]