Weekly Briefing, Vol. 57. No. 1 (SK) December 2022
The Review of Slovak Political Development in 2022
Summary
Probably the most important events of this year that have had an effect on the Slovak political scene were the government’s troubles resulted in the minority government, and the municipal and regional elections in the country.
At the beginning of summer 2022 Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) had to choose between Finance Minister and OĽaNO leader Igor Matovič or the SaS party, one of four coalition parties. Its chair Richard Sulík claimed that the party would no longer adhere to the coalition deal, threatening to leave the coalition government if Matovič remains part of it after the summer holidays. The SaS party left Slovakia’s government after a two-month ultimatum asking Matovič to leave. The move came after he pushed through a package of family benefits, costing over a billion euros. These were criticized as unsystematic and were passed in cooperation with a far-right opposition party. Slovakia’s government lost its majority in parliament after a junior partner withdrew from the four-party coalition. Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, Justice Minister Mária Kolíková, Education Minister Branislav Gröhling and the party’s leader and former Economy Minister Richard Sulík all from the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, submitted their resignations at the end of August. With SaS no longer supporting the coalition in the parliament, the three parties of the coalition do not have the necessary 76 votes in the house, and rule as a minority government. It also means that the coalition has been struggling to function properly and in some cases has to rely on the votes of the opposition or even on far-right MPs.
For the first time, municipal and regional elections were held on the same day in Slovakia, on October 29, 2022. The Election Day was shorter than usual. Moreover, concerns over low turnout were magnified by the timing of the elections: they took place in the middle of autumn school holidays, when people in Slovakia typically travel to visit their families and thus might not be in the place of their permanent residence. Probably, it was one of the reasons why this was the lowest voter turnout in the history of municipal elections, as only 43% of eligible voters participated.
However, most regional governors continue in their posts after the 2022 regional elections. Only one of the eight biggest cities will have a new mayor — after the previous one didn’t seek re-election. Overall, independent candidates won the most mayoral posts across Slovakia. People have chosen experienced, democratic candidates and in most cases rejected extremism and populism.
The most important political events, which has had an effect on Slovakia in 2022:
Coalition struggles in parliament
Ministers from the Slovak center-right Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party resigned at the beginning of September, leaving the coalition government short of a majority in the midst of an energy crisis and conflict in neighboring Ukraine. The resignations cast doubt over the long term survival of the NATO and European Union member country’s center-right cabinet, which is trying to tackle soaring energy prices and has strongly backed Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Almost a week after a group of ministers quit the coalition government, Prime Minister Eduard Heger delivered a list of candidates for vacant ministerial posts to President Zuzana Čaputová. New ministers have been appointed and SaS has returned to parliament, but Slovakia’s government has been struggling to function properly. With three of its ministers back in their parliamentary seats, SaS now holds 21 seats in the house.
The coalition of OĽaNO, Sme Rodina and Za Ľudí now has 69 MPs in the house. To open the session, more than half of all 150 MPs need to vote to approve the session program, meaning the government must find at least seven votes among the opposition each time parliament convenes. In this precarious situation, parliament was scheduled to deal with an unprecedented number of draft laws during the September session. Observers believe the increased activity of MPs might be either because they felt the chaotic situation in parliament might be a chance to have their own proposals passed, or because they worried the current parliamentary term might soon come to a premature end and elections called, and wanted to try to push through their projects before that happens.
Among the more controversial proposals was legislation to force shops to close on Sundays and a ban on rainbow flags on public buildings (from conservative OĽaNO MP Anna Záborská) as well as the introduction of registered partnerships, including for same-sex couples, from SaS MPs. Sme Rodina MPs wanted a further increase in child benefits, and a reduction in VAT on foodstuffs for schools, hospitals and social care homes to 5 percent. Meanwhile, SaS wanted a cut in VAT on fuels and for restaurants.
When Slovakia left with a minority government, some commentators suggested that the coalition could continue with the help of three MPs, who got into the parliament on the candidate list of the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia. Tomáš Taraba, Štefan Kuffa, and his son Filip Kuffa style themselves in the role of conservative pro-Christian National council members. Although Taraba, Kuffa, and Kuffa were very critical of the government and Matovič for a long time, they also were critical of Freedom and Solidarity and said they don’t want to open a way for their return.
After Matovič survived the no-confidence vote, three proposals submitted to the National Council by Taraba and Kuffa got into the second reading. These proposals, supposedly, were also discussed at a coalition meeting. Several National Council members from Matovič’s Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) said that they consider cooperation with far-right members a “red line and criticized Matovič before the non-confidence vote for his recent attacks on journalists, whom he called “progressive fascists”, and refused to participate in the ballot.
Results of Municipal and Regional elections
Slovakia has granted temporary refuge to nearly 100,000 refugees since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The aversion against Ukrainian refugees has since increased, with most Slovaks believing that the state looks after refugees more than its own citizens. Recently it has changed.
Observers had claimed the war in Ukraine was not a topic in the Slovak municipal and regional elections, even if they were the first elections to be held in the country since the start of Russia’s invasion. The impacts of the war, like the energy crisis or the surging prices of building materials and food products, were addressed by candidates in different debates or their programs in how they affect, for example, the energy bills of schools or delay investment projects. The attitude towards solving the energy crisis might be one of the factors that influenced the election results. Local and regional governments, however, lack the competences and money to deal with these huge impacts and have to rely on the Slovak government and EU measures. Of course, the situation could differ and might be more difficult in small towns with a high concentration of refugees. In some municipalities the Ukrainian crisis might thus be a key topic because of their citizens. Today, it is not rare for the Ukrainians to be the victims of verbal attacks by people in Slovakia. Despite the massive inflow of refugees in the early stages of the conflict, the war should has not decided the results in the Slovak regions near the border with Ukraine either.
Towns and regions, and people in them, face problems other than the conflict. For example: a brain drain, shortage of doctors, low wages, lack of job opportunities, and no highways to Poland and Ukraine. It was obvious that local and regional topics indeed dominated the debates across the country before the elections and the war could be a major topic in the elections only if Slovakia would experience another big migration wave, which is not the case today.
We can confirm that the election results dispelled the worst fears. Many had concerns ahead of what was very likely the most wide-ranging set of elections that people in Slovakia have ever participated in. In the run-up, it came to seem that democracy had rarely had it harder. The regional and municipal elections – for which voting is only allowed in person, in the place of one’s residence – took place in the middle of the autumn school holidays, when people typically travel away from their homes. Election Day was noticeably shorter than usual, with polling stations closing at 20:00. Voters had to deal with four, and in Bratislava and Košice cities as many as six, different ballots. Besides, it was the first time that voters had been asked to deliver an electoral verdict since the 2020 election, which was followed by a lot of perceived and actual hardship during the pandemic, and a lot of political turmoil since that has left many people drained of any enthusiasm for politics and even for public affairs as such.
The results of regional and municipal elections in Slovakia released on October 29 showed that voters didn’t use the ballot to punish the coalition government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger for high inflation driven by soaring energy prices. The 2022 municipal and regional elections results are a victory for democratic forces and the true winners are independent candidates.
References
BalkanInsight (2022): Democracy Digest: Slovakia Braces for Regional, Municipal Elections. Available at: https://balkaninsight.com/2022/10/28/democracy-digest-slovakia-braces-for-general-elections/
Dlhopolec, P. (2022): Concerns other than Refugees Occupy Slovaks ahead of Local Elections. Available at: https://balkaninsight.com/2022/10/25/concerns-other-than-refugees-occupy-slovaks-ahead-of-local-elections/
Hudec, M. (2022): Slovak minority government is increasingly relying on far-right MPs. Available at: https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/short_news/slovak-minority-government-is-increasingly-relying-on-far-right-mps/
Sybera, A. (2022): Slovakia’s minority cabinet manages to open parliamentary session with help of opposition. Available at: https://www.intellinews.com/slovakia-s-minority-cabinet-manages-to-open-parliamentary-session-with-help-of-opposition-257118/
Official Results of Municipal and Regional Elections in Slovakia 2022: Available at: https://domov.sme.sk/c/23047827/oficialne-vysledky-komunalnych-a-vuc-volieb-2022.html