Caputova speaks to media as she arrives to cast her vote at a polling station in Pezinok, Slovakia. — Reuters photo
BRATISLAVA: Slovaks voted in round one of a ballot that could usher in their first female president, a vocal government critic who emerged as the clear favourite after an investigative journalist’s murder dealt a blow to the political establishment.
Zuzana Caputova, 45, was among tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets after the killing, which shocked the nation and raised fears about media freedom and political corruption.
They were the largest anti-government protests since communist times in the central European country of 5.4 million people, which spent decades behind the Iron Curtain before joining the European Union, the eurozone and Nato.
Opinion polls give the environmental lawyer a double-digit lead over European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, a 52-year-old career diplomat backed by the ruling Smer-SD party, in the race for the largely ceremonial post.
“Caputova attracts those who abhor corruption and are dissatisfied with what they see as an increasingly… self-dealing government,” said Kevin Deegan-Krause, a central Europe expert at Wayne State University.
“Sefcovic appeals to those with a certain satisfaction with the progress of a country which, by many indicators, has not done at all badly over the last decade.”
Neither candidate is on track for an outright victory and a run-off vote is expected on March 30.
The president ratifies international treaties, appoints top judges, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can also veto laws passed by parliament.
Caputova, a deputy head of the non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party, cast her ballot in her southern city of Pezinok.
“Slovakia is at a crossroads in terms of regaining the public’s trust,” she said, flanked by her daughters and partner.
Journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee were gunned down in February 2018 just as he was about to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.
The double murder and Kuciak’s last explosive report, published posthumously, plunged the country into crisis.
Then prime minister Robert Fico was forced to resign but remains the leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of current premier Peter Pellegrini. Four people were charged with the killings.
On Thursday, prosecutors said they had also charged multi-millionaire businessman Marian Kocner with ordering the murder of Kuciak, who had been investigating his business activities at the time. Kocner is believed to have ties to Smer-SD.
“With this announcement, the authorities may have wanted to show just how effectively the state functions so it could help Sefcovic gain some points,” Bratislava-based analyst Grigorij Meseznikov told AFP.
“On the other hand, this could also be a vindication for Caputova, as she is the symbol of change.”
Caputova won a vote from outgoing President Andrej Kiska.
“It is extremely important to continue this fight for a decent and fair Slovakia,” he told reporters.
She has appealed to voters tired of the country’s main political players and vowed to restore public trust in the state, running on a slogan of: ‘Stand up to evil’.
Eleven other candidates are vying for the job, including Supreme Court judge Stefan Harabin, far-right MP Marian Kotleba and ethnic Hungarian politician Bela Bugar. — AFP