The Slovak parliament announced yesterday that ten out of eleven candidates have met the conditions to run in the upcoming March direct presidential election. However, one candidate, Robert Svec, has been disqualified by parliament deputy speaker Peter Ziga.

Svec, representing the Slovak Revival Movement, failed to meet the necessary conditions for candidacy, primarily the submission of a petition signed by either 15,000 voters or 15 MPs in support of his candidacy. Svec, who garnered only 0.3% of the vote in the 2019 presidential election, may contest this decision. Despite claiming to have fulfilled the requirements earlier this week, his bid has been rejected.

Notably, there is a lack of female candidates among the ten contenders aiming to succeed President Zuzana Caputova, whose term concludes in mid-June.

Recent opinion polls indicate Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini as the frontrunner, with former foreign minister Ivan Korcok emerging as his primary competitor. Pellegrini enjoys support from his own party Hlas-SD, as well as from Smer-SD, led by Prime Minister Robert Fico. On the other hand, Korcok is backed by opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS) and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS).

Other notable candidates include Andrej Danko, chairman of the coalition government’s Slovak National Party (SNS), former justice minister and ex-head of the Slovak Supreme Court Stefan Harabin, former prime minister Igor Matovic, and former foreign minister Jan Kubis.

Representing Slovakia’s significant Hungarian minority, Krisztian Forro, along with Marian Kotleba, leader of the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia, historian Patrik Dubovsky, and Milan Nahlik, a former police officer, have also met the requirements to participate in the direct presidential election.

As the campaign for the presidential elections gains momentum, candidates like Korcok have begun distinguishing themselves, particularly regarding key issues such as recent legislation on criminal penalties for corruption, which has drawn criticism from proponents of liberal democracy like Korcok, contrasting with Pellegrini’s support for the bill.

Article by Prague Forum