The Slovak opposition party Ordinary People (OLANO) has virtually won the parliamentary elections on Sunday. After more than 96 percent of the votes have been counted, OLANO takes the lead with a quarter of the votes.
After OLANO follows the center-left party Smer with 18.5 percent, that the previous elections still won with 49 of the 150 seats. On behalf of Smer, Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini acknowledged having suffered an election defeat on Saturday night. His party achieved the worst result since 2002.
It was the first elections in Slovakia since investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnírová were shot to death in February 2018. Their death led to mass demonstrations against corruption in the Central European country and the resignation of former Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The pro-European party OLANO has gained a lot of ground in recent weeks on other political parties by conducting an intensive anti-corruption campaign. Leader Igor Matovic traveled through the country with the motto “together we defeat the mafia in Slovakia”.
According to analysts, a center-right coalition with various liberal and conservative parties is on the way, writes news agency Reuters.
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