Election to the National Council in Slovakia in 2006
The early parliamentary elections in Slovakia in 2006 for the National Council took place on June 17, 2006. There were 150 seats to be allocated. It was the fourth national council election since Slovak independence in 1993.
The left-wing populist party Smer-SD won the election with 29% and a third of the seats. The Mečiar party ĽS-HZDS , which had been first placed since 1992 , again suffered a heavy loss of votes and only achieved just under 9% of the votes. The previously ruling bourgeois parties were unable to maintain their majority because one of the coalition parties, the Alliance of the New Citizen (ANO), failed at the 5% hurdle and ultimately only received 65 seats. The Slovak nationalists of the SNS , on the other hand, recorded massive growth .
The new government under Robert Fico came into being 17 days after the election, politically a left-national reorientation of the country followed.
prehistory
The second government of Mikuláš Dzurinda , which has been in power since 2002, ran into problems in 2005 when the Alliance of the New Citizen ( Aliancia nového občana , ANO) and some of the MPs of the SDKÚ-DS left the civil coalition due to disputes. This led to a 10-day parliamentary crisis in September 2005. In February 2006, the KDH also resigned after a dispute over amendments as part of an international treaty between Slovakia and the Vatican . This made early elections necessary; instead of the planned regular date (September 16, 2006), the election had to be held on June 17, 2006.
Electoral system
The National Council was elected using proportional representation. There was a threshold clause of 5% for individual parties, 7% for a coalition of two to three parties and 10% for four or more parties. The legislative period was 4 years.
Campaigning parties and candidates
21 political parties with a total of 2352 candidates stood for 4.27 million Slovak voters.
Direction - Social Democracy (Smer-SD)
The social democratic Smer-SD under the leadership of Robert Fico opposed the reform course of the previously ruling coalition. Individual measures should be reversed. A progression in the tax system was also planned. Economic growth should continue, but in such a way that it also benefited the poor and not exclusively the rich.
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS)
The previously co-governing liberal - conservative SDKÚ-DS with Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda wanted to continue the reform course that had already begun. Slovakia should develop further with a knowledge-based economy. Their main themes in the coming legislature were education, justice and security. A reduction in bureaucracy and a further reduction in ancillary wage costs were also planned.
Slovak National Party (SNS)
The nationalist SNS with Ján Slota at the top of the party campaigned, among other things, for the reintroduction of the death penalty. She stated the "occupation of Slovakia by Hungary" and wanted to withdraw custody of their children from non-adaptable Roma parents. It positioned itself clearly against the Hungarian minority. Their program was aimed primarily at protest voters and the so-called "common people".
Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK-MKP)
The Christian Democratic SMK-MKP campaigned for a moderate, above all regionally-politically accentuated minority program for Hungarians living in southern Slovakia. Under its chairman, Béla Bugár , it was one of the most important liberal reform forces on the whole of Slovakia.
Survey
| Political party | Election 2002 | Survey | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2005 | Nov 2005 | Dec 2005 | Feb 2006 | March 2006 | Apr. 2006 | May 2006 | |||
| ĽS-HZDS | 19.50 | 10.9 | 9.4 | 10.8 | 11.4 | 11.5 | 12.1 | 11.1 | |
| SDKÚ-DS | 15.09 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 9.5 | |
| Smer-SD | 13.46 | 33.0 | 35.7 | 31.8 | 31.8 | 32.4 | 32.6 | 31.7 | |
| SMK-MKP | 11.16 | 9.5 | 10.9 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 11.1 | 9.3 | 9.8 | |
| KDH | 8.25 | 10.9 | 8.2 | 10.2 | 10.3 | 10.2 | 9.8 | 9.7 | |
| ANO | 8.01 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.4 | |
| KSS | 6.32 | 8.2 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 5.5 | |
| SNS | 3.32 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.1 | |
| HZD | 3.28 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.2 | |
| SF | New | 4.7 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 6.0 | |
| Others | - | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 3.0 | |
| Source: FOCUS Research | |||||||||
choice
The turnout was 54.67% and thus continued the downward trend of the previous election years. Thus only one in two made use of their voting rights.
In contrast to the earlier National Council elections, voters abroad could also vote by post ( postal vote ) and instead of two election days there was only one.
Election result
The election ended with a clear victory for the Smer-SD party, which received 50 seats, twice as many as in 2002. The Slovak National Party (SNS), reunified a year earlier, won 20 seats and returned to the National Council after four years . The bourgeois parties Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS), Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK-MKP) and Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) remained relatively stable, but the Alliance of the New Citizen (ANO) failed because of the 5% hurdle, so that the old coalition could no longer be renewed. The Free Forum founded by former members of the SDKÚ-DS was also unsuccessful. Although the People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS) later became part of the new coalition, it suffered the highest losses (21 seats less than in 2002) and continued the downward trend. The communists had to leave the National Council after four years.
| Political party | be right | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | % | +/- | number | +/- | ||
| Direction - Social Democracy (Smer-SD) | 671.185 | 29.14 | +15.68 | 50 | +25 | |
| Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS) | 422.815 | 18.35 | +3.26 | 31 | +3 | |
| Slovak National Party (SNS) | 270.230 | 11.73 | +8.51 | 20th | +20 | |
| Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK-MKP) | 269.111 | 11.68 | +0.52 | 20th | - | |
| People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS) | 202,540 | 8.79 | −10.71 | 15th | −21 | |
| Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) | 191,443 | 8.31 | +0.06 | 14th | −1 | |
| Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) | 89,418 | 3.88 | −2.44 | - | −11 | |
| Free Forum (SF) | 79.963 | 3.47 | New | - | New | |
| Alliance of the New Citizen (ANO) | 32,775 | 1.42 | −6.59 | - | -15 | |
| Movement for Democracy (HZD) | 14,728 | 0.63 | −2.65 | - | - | |
| hope | 14,595 | 0.63 | New | - | New | |
| Block of the Left (ĽB) | 9,174 | 0.39 | +0.17 | - | - | |
| Workers' Association of Slovakia (ZRS) | 6,864 | 0.29 | −0.25 | - | - | |
| Conservative Citizens Party (OKS) | 6.262 | 0.27 | −0.05 | - | - | |
| Slovak National Coalition - Slovak Mutuality (SLNKO) | 4.016 | 0.17 | New | - | New | |
| Slovak People's Party (SĽS) | 3.815 | 0.16 | New | - | New | |
| Agricultural and Development Party (ASV) | 3,160 | 0.13 | New | - | New | |
| Slovak prosperity (PS) | 3.118 | 0.13 | New | - | New | |
| Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) | 2,906 | 0.12 | −1.24 | - | - | |
| Mission 21 - New Christian Democracy (MISIA 21) | 2,523 | 0.10 | New | - | New | |
| Civil Solidarity Party (SOS) | 2,498 | 0.10 | New | - | New | |
| total | 2,303,139 | 100.00 | 150 | |||
| Valid votes | 2,303,139 | 98.70 | −0.10 | |||
| Invalid votes | 32,778 | 1.30 | +0.10 | |||
| voter turnout | 2,335,917 | 54.67 | −15.39 | |||
| Non-voters | 1,939,600 | 45.33 | +15.39 | |||
| Eligible voters | 4,272,517 | |||||
| Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic | ||||||
Web links
- Slovak Election Data Project - Election Results
- Slovak Statistical Office Official Website (Slovak, English)
- National Council official website (Slovak, English)
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official result of the 2006 National Council election, Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (Slovak, English)
- ↑ Prehľad najvážnejších kríz vo vládnej koalícii v tomto volebnom období , SME , February 7, 2006 (Slovak)
- ↑ a b c d Slovakia has voted: Reform course at risk? Konrad Adenauer Foundation , PDF document
- ↑ Survey 10/2005 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
- ↑ Survey 11/2005 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
- ↑ Survey 12/2005 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
- ↑ Survey 02/2006 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
- ↑ Survey 03/2006 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
- ↑ Survey 04/2006 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
- ↑ Survey 05/2006 FOCUS Research , PDF document (Slovak)
