Slovakia: Social Democratic Party wins majority

The Smer-Social Democracy party of Robert Fico won handily with 44.4 per cent of the vote and winning 83 seats out 150 in the parliament. This will give his party a clear majority. This is first time since the communist regime fell that there has been one party with a majority.

Fico has said that he will maintain the welfare state while increasing corporate taxes and income taxes on the highest earners. The four party center-right coalition he defeated combined received only 51 seat. Voters were very angry at a corruption scandal, the Gorilla scandal.

The Ordinary People party running on an anti-corruption platform managed to win 16 while an ultra-nationalist party did poorly falling below the 5 per cent level. Because of voter disgust with corruption predictions were the turnout would be light as low as 44 per cent. This turned out to be quite wrong with turnout near 60 per cent.

The outgoing Prime Minister Iveta Radicova's party won only 5.9 per cent of the vote. She is quitting politics to lecture at Oxford University! For more see this article.

Slovaks vote today for new government

The election is happening two years early after a coalition government with the social democrats collapsed when a free market party that was part of the group refused to back the expansion of the EU bailout fund last October.

The polls show that the Smer Social Democrats are likely to win. This is the party of former Prime Minister Robert Fico. The right-wing parties are unpopular because of what is called the Gorilla graft scandal. Gorilla is the nickname of one of the key figures involved.

In the capital Bratislava about 1,000 protesters massed in an anti-corruption rally. Banners read: "I don't vote for gorillas, I vote for change".

Fico's social democrats pledge to tax the rich and offer better protections for the working class as Slovakia has high unemployment. Many voters are disillusioned with all the parties and turnout may be as low as 44 per cent. Fico has pledged to overturn the flat 19 per cent income tax passed by an earlier right leaning government. He plans to raise the corporate tax rates from 19 per cent to 22 per cent as well. For more see this Al Jazeera article.