Pellegrini to announce presidential candidacy, solidify Fico’s government

Slovak Parliament Speaker and former prime minister Peter Pellegrini will announce his presidential candidacy on Friday, which, if successful, would tighten the grip on power of the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico, with whom he has been politically linked for almost 20 years.

As the leader of the Hlas party, the second largest governing party, Pellegrini is an ex-member of Prime Minister Robert Fico’s party, Smer. He previously said he intends to formally announce his presidential candidacy after the Hlas-SD party leadership approves his decision to run for office.

“I have already made the personal decision regarding the candidacy,” Pellegrini said at a press conference after setting the election dates on 23 March and 6 April 2024.

Pellegrini claims that if he is to become president, he “would follow the letter of the law, which says that the president should be non-partisan”.

At the same time, however, he said that after announcing his candidacy, he would not relinquish his position as parliament speaker or party leader, which he currently holds.

Pellegrini will officially launch his candidacy in his home town of Banská Bystrica, where his party has rented the State Opera House for the occasion.

Pellegrini is currently leading the polls, with former foreign minister Ivan Korčok, who is starting to gain support from opposition parties, coming in second.

Korčok’s campaign is based on the premise that the ruling coalition should not take over all of the country’s leading positions, setting up his bid as some kind of ‘counterbalance’. Although he is a citizen’s candidate, Korčok has already received the support of the main opposition parties.

Before founding the Hlas party, Pellegrini was a member of the Smer party for almost 20 years. Following the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak, Fico was stripped of his prime ministership and handed it to Pellegrini.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)