Only a two-thirds parliamentary majority remains in the way of snap elections expected to be held on 30 September after lawmakers adopted a constitutional amendment on Wednesday that most citizens oppose.
To solve political turmoil in the country, 92 lawmakers of the 150-strong parliament decided to go down the snap election route for which constitutional reform was necessary.
Now that the constitution allows for parliament to trigger snap elections, parliament is expected to vote on early elections next, with the date set for 30 September.
Until then, Slovakia will be governed by the interim government of Eduard Heger, whose term should have ended in 2024.
The constitutional change was adopted despite most citizens opposing a similar constitutional amendment in a referendum that failed on Saturday.
According to the referendum’s results, only 27% of Slovaks expressed their wish that a snap election could be triggered by parliament or via popular referendum.
However, compared to the two-thirds majority of 90 lawmakers now needed to trigger snap elections, the reform proposed that only 76 lawmakers would be needed.
With elections now around the corner, polls point to a complete change in the political landscape.
Leading the polls are two former prime ministers: Hlas-SD leader and former Smer-SDmember Peter Pellegrini, who is followed closely by Smer-SD leader Robert Fico. Smer-SD, which in the past has been involved in multiple corruption scandals, used to be the main governing party but recently began to drift from the EU on policy and has heavily criticised sanctions against Russia.
Many Slovaks (46%) believe the next likely ruling coalition to include Fico, Pellegrini, and the far-right party Republika or ĽSNS, according to a recent poll. Fico has previously expressed interest in cooperating with Republika, despite Smer-SD being a member of the leftist S&D. (Barbara Zmušková | EURACTIV.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
