President Zuzana Čaputová is expected to announce whether she will run for reelection in 2024 within the next month, and experts believe she will decide to run again based on previous statements.
Čaputová said she would present her decision in spring this year and promised to do so before 15 May – the day her predecessor Andrej Kiska announced he would not run again.
“The five years that I will complete in a year are a powerful experience, which is hard to throw away,” Čaputová said in discussion with the newly elected Czech President Petr Pavel.
In Slovakia, presidential elections are planned for the spring of 2024.
The liberal and pro-western president is still the most popular politician in the country despite the continuing attacks from opposition and coalition politicians. Opposition leader Robert Fico repeatedly labels her an “American agent”, while former prime minister Igor Matovič is criticised for “anti-government policies”. Her approval rating reached 43% in an opinion poll from March.
According to the sociologist Martin Slosiarik, Čaputová has a chance, but it will be tight.”
“I assume there will be a strong candidate from the conservative spectrum, so the offer will be more varied. But the polls show that Zuzana Čaputová’s support is high enough for her to make it at least to the second round,” he added.
Čaputová has a “good chance for reelection” but “will have a harder time” if she faces a “strong challenger”, said Václav Hřích, Director of the AKO polling agency.
Several liberally-oriented politicians and public figures recently expressed support for Čaputová, fearing that if she does not run, an anti-EU candidate may win as resentment against the EU and the pro-Russian narrative of the war in Ukraine in Slovakia is growing.
Čaputová would be the first major candidate to start the campaign. From the conservative spectrum, general prosecutor Maroš Žilinka is talked about as a potential candidate.
(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
