Exit polls: Opposition appears to be winning Slovakia vote

Slovaks are voting in parliamentary elections widely expected to unseat the long dominant but scandal-tainted leftist party that governed on an anti-immigration platform. (Pexels Photo)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Two exit polls suggested that Slovakia’s opposition appears to be winning Saturday’s parliamentary election.

The polls by the Focus and Median.sk agencies showed the conservative Ordinary People party getting over 25% support while the senior ruling leftist Smer-Social Democracy led by former populist Prime Minister Robert Fico would receive between 13.9 and 14.9%.

The result means Ordinary People would be able to create a majority government with three other centre-right parties and unseat Smer, the country’s long dominant but scandal-tainted party.

In a further blow for Smer, the polls suggested that Fico’s current coalition partners, the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party and a party of ethnic Hungarians, would not win any seats.

An extreme far-right party whose members use Nazi salutes and which wants Slovakia out of the European Union and NATO seemed to receive between 6.5% – 8.8% support.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below.

Slovaks are voting in parliamentary elections widely expected to unseat the long dominant but scandal-tainted leftist party that governed on an anti-immigration platform.

According to the latest polls, a coalition of several centre-right parties is emerging as a favourite to win Saturday’s ballot and form a new government for Slovakia.

The centre-right Ordinary People, led by Igor Matovic, is the front-runner, followed by Smer-Social Democracy, led by populist former Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Matovic, 46, has made fighting corruption and attacking Fico the central tenet of his campaign. An anti-corruption drive has been in the party’s program since he established it 10 years ago. He is ahead in opinion polls with some 19%.

If he wins as predicted, Matovic is the likeliest candidate for prime minister. He is expected to govern with a coalition of the liberal Progressive Slovakia/Together, the conservative For People established by former President Andrej Kiska, and the pro-business Freedom and Solidarity party.

Fico’s Smer has been in power for most of the past 14 years. It gained 28.3% in the last elections in 2016 after campaigning on an anti-migrant ticket. But the party was damaged by political turmoil following the slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee and is expected to receive around 15%.

Fico’s current coalition partners, the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party and a party of ethnic Hungarians, might not win any seats, polls suggest.

In a worrying development, an extreme far-right party whose members use Nazi salutes and which wants Slovakia out of the European Union and NATO is forecast to strengthen its hold in the 150-seat parliament, to become the third most popular party in the country of just under 5.5 million.

The far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia won 8% and 14 seats in Parliament in 2016 and this time might get about 10%.

All other parties have ruled out co-operation with the party that advocates the legacy of the Slovak Nazi puppet WWII state.