Slovakia: Corona becomes a problem for the government – ​​Compromised populist Fico reaches for power again

Created: 01/17/2022, 17:44

By: Aleksandra Fedorska

Robert Fico, former Prime Minister and head of the left-wing populist opposition party Direction Social Democracy, leaves a police station.

Former Prime Minister Robert Fico was arrested in Slovakia on Thursday evening in front of cameras.

© Jaroslav Novak/dpa

The governing coalition of bourgeois and populist parties in Slovakia is not doing well when it comes to pandemic management.

This benefits political competition.

Bratislava – Robert Fico has led the Slovakian government as Prime Minister three times since 2006 with his social democratic party SMER-SD.

In 2018, in the wake of events surrounding the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his partner Martina Kušnírová, Fico resigned as prime minister.

The police investigation revealed close links between SMER and the criminal milieu and organized crime in Slovakia.

In the meantime, the SMER-SD is more active than ever - especially when it comes to street protests against the government and President Zuzana Čaputova.

In mid-December, Fico protested with his supporters, demonstratively violating the government's Corona* measures.

Fico was then arrested by the police for several hours.

Corona in Slovakia: The government's difficulties play into Fico's hands

At the end of February 2020, Slovaks elected a new parliament. The conservative OĽaNO won the election with 25 percent of the votes. In order to be able to govern, she formed a coalition with the populist Sme Rodima and the pro-business SaS of Economy Minister Richard Sulík. The fourth party of the unusual coalition was also the bourgeois party Za ľudí. The government alliance was marked by tensions from the start - which reached their peak after the order for the vaccine Sputnik*, which was not approved in the EU. In the end, the remedy was not used. This had a devastating external impact on the image of the government and its management skills in connection with the fight against the pandemic. The governing parties lost significantly in polls.

The government's mistakes and the massive difficulties associated with the pandemic are now benefiting SMER and Robert Fico, who is fueling the political discussion with street protests and calls for the government and president to resign. The former prime minister is on hand wherever the government is concerned. He immediately offered his help to the medical staff, who were protesting about the high workload and low wages. Fico also criticizes the corona-related emergency, which has been in effect in Slovakia* for 90 days since November 25, 2021. The main thing is media presence - that is the motto of the Social Democrats. It seems to be working, as the once totally compromised politician now ranks third in popularity.

In the middle of this year, hundreds of thousands of Slovaks signed a petition calling for early parliamentary elections to be held.

The President of Slovakia then asked the Constitutional Court to clarify the constitutional conformity of this petition.

The Court has ruled that calling for new elections in this form is not compatible with the Constitution.

Robert Fico countered that Čaputová prevented the democratic will of the voters from being carried out, otherwise she would not be able to keep herself and the government in power.

Corona: Robert Fico and Social Democrats on the rise in Slovakia

In the meantime, not only the SMER has worked its way out of its low with survey values ​​of 16-14 percent. Peter Pellegrini, who took over as prime minister after Fico resigned, left SMER in June 2020 and has since founded his own social democratic party, HLAS-SD, which leads all polls with 19-23 percent.

Pellegrini is not at all averse to Fico's methods, because he too is mobilizing in the media for a referendum that should lead to early parliamentary elections.

According to Pellegrini, however, the referendum should be preceded by a corresponding constitutional amendment.

He urges haste “I'm just pointing out a timing issue.

If we don't have a referendum until sometime in 2023, then regular elections are imminent,” Pellegrini told Slovak media.

The next parliamentary elections are expected to take place in the country in 2024.

Slovakia: Corona becomes a problem for the government – ​​Compromised populist Fico reaches for power again

This haste and Fico's activism are easy to explain.

The opposition politicians want to seize the opportunity and use the government's corona-related problems as an excuse for their inability to govern.

If the pandemic subsides, the picture could change quickly.

This is also clear to the government, which is meanwhile trying to calm things down.

“These are complex problems for which there is no single, seemingly obvious solution, and therefore discussion and conflict in tackling them is perfectly normal.

Our governing coalition is doing better than many previous governments,” said Veronika Remišová, who is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Investments and Regional Development.

In her media statements, however, the politician from the bourgeois Za ľudí called for the government to show more cohesion.

Some lone walks by coalition members would have harmed the coalition.

This applies in particular to the current debate about the corona measures and the design of the state of emergency.

In these areas, action should be more coherent and reasonable, otherwise there is a risk of further activism on the part of SMER.