Peter Pellegrini, Speaker of the Slovak Parliament and candidate for the “Voice” party, which is part of the ruling coalition, won the Saturday runoff in the presidential elections in the country with 53.85% of the votes, AP reports.
The former Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korchok remains second with 46.14 percent.
This is shown by results at 100% of processed papers.
Source: EPA/BGNES
Korčok had hoped to win more votes in the last-counted major urban areas and close the gap with his rival, but forecast models by two Slovak media outlets showed he was unlikely to close the gap.
Korchok admitted defeat and congratulated the winner. “I’m disappointed,” he admitted.
According to the statistics office of the country, over 4.33 million people were entitled to vote in the elections, for which 5,900 polling stations were opened.
Runoff in the presidential elections in Slovakia
The two favorites from the first round – Peter Pellegrini and Ivan Korchok – will fight for the post of head of state
We remind you that Korchok, who is a representative of the liberal opposition, won the support of 42.5% of voters in the first round two weeks ago. Contrary to predictions, he managed to defeat Pellegrini, who was predicted to win, but came second with 37% of the vote.
The question was also to which candidate the votes given in the first round for the former President of the Supreme Court Stefan Harabin, which came third with 11.75%. His constituents clearly helped Pellegrini with the final results.
The winner of the second round will assume the presidency of Slovakia on June 15 for a five-year term and will succeed the first female president in the country’s history, Zuzana Czaputova, who held the post since 2019 and decided not to run in the current election.
Pellegrini becomes Slovakia’s sixth president since the country gained independence after the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
The President of Slovakia does not have important administrative powersbut has a role in government and judicial appointments, can veto laws and shape public debate, as liberal politician Zuzana Chaputova often did.
Fico and his ruling left-wing Smer (Direction) party won parliamentary elections last September with promises to stop military aid to Ukraine and give support to people affected by the price spike.
A pro-European candidate leads after the first round of the presidential election in Slovakia
The second round is on April 6
2024-04-07 05:23:54
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