Anti-corruption opposition party wins Slovakia election

Slovakia’s center-right populist opposition claimed victory in the parliamentary election held on Sunday.
The Ordinary People party’s victory ended the dominance of the scandal-tainted leftist party in a move seen as the voters’ desire to end corruption in the country.
According to results by the Statistics Office, the Ordinary People group got 25% of the vote and 53 seats in the 150-seat parliament, while the ruling leftist Smer-Social Democracy party led by former PM Robert Fico was second with 18.3% or 38 seats.
“We will try to form the best government Slovakia’s ever had”, Ordinary People chairman Igor Matovic, who is likely to become the country’s next PM, said after the victory. Fighting corruption was the key argument in his campaign.
The Smer party has been in power since 2006. However, their reputation was damaged by political turmoil following the 2018 slayings of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee. Kuciak reported on tax evasion and fraud among Slovak businesspeople connected to Smer.
Kuciak’s murder triggered large demonstrations which eventually led to Fico and the country’s police chief stepping down, as well as to the election of anti-corruption activist Zuzana Čaputová as president.