As everyone expected, Prime Minister Robert Fico today announced his candidacy for the post of president in the 2014 Presidential Elections, with his persistent popularity standing him well for a chance of winning.
Till now PM Fico and his Smer-SD party were refusing to confirm or reject Fico’s candidacy, and now that the cat is out of the bag, the real populist race can begin. There is a real threat now, that Robert Fico and his ‘Smerry’ men will have control of the posts of Prime Minister, President and the Parliamentary Chair, not to mention their long-attested and mutually convenient ties with Supreme Court Chairman Stefan Harabin.
Saying that, the relationship between the ruling Smer-SD party and current President Ivan Gasparovic has always run very smoothly, as the president swayed and bent as required on various issues, such as the highly contested fiasco surrounding the Attorney General post, now also held by nominee of the Smer-SD party, Jaromir Ciznar.
So all in all it is safe to say that Prime Minister Robert Fico and his ever-popular Smer-SD party essentially have complete control over the Slovak Republic, and should Mr Fico become the next President, then it would just be the cherry on an otherwise already huge cake.
Those hoping to prevent Fico from occupying the crucial post include MP Pavol Hrusovsky and former prime minister Jan Carnogursky both from the Christian democrat stables (KDH), Andrej Kiska, successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, MP Radoslav Prochazka (also formerly KDH) and the well-known actor Milan Knazko, who was one of the leading voices in the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
With such a splintered political right wing who have no real consensus on presidential candidates, Mr Fico’s chances of completing the checkmate look ever more likely, with the autocratic situation dispelling any real chance of a true and healthy democracy.
So Slovakia will be stuck in the same state on no change for many more years. While neighboring countries make advances and charge ahead, I cry for Slovakia.
I was hoping they would have made changes/improvements like Hungary, Czech Rep and Poland did…
So the Fisherman`s Friend Sukkin mate of Bob, Pavol Paška has announced that he has set Saturday, March 15, 2014 as the date for the first round of the presidential election.
Come on JB, there is lots more of real news out there, so start getting ahead of the game , rather than playing catch up ?
God Old Bob, just woke up yesterday and decided to throw his hat into the Presidents for me ring , just to help the people of Slowvakia …and save them from a real nasty Right Wing bogeyman, who of course would have been an Enemy of the Empire !
Hans Solo-Luke Skywalker were are you ??
On a personal note: My wife has slept on this matter and has just announced that, in the absence of the political right wing showing any move to get behind a single candidate who could prevent BnM gaining absolute power and the clear possibility of there being no effective change in the country for decades to come…. we are leaving Neverneverland.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
I could not agree more with this article. If BnM gets the keys to the Presidential Palace, Slovakia can say goodbye to democracy. The truly worrying thing is that his govt. have sufficient seats to force through constitutional changes and it’s quite clear from their recent record of decisions that they would have no qualms about making them. With all the key positions firmly in the control of “friends” the supposed checks and balances are effectively neutered add to that Glorious Leader’s over inflated ego and questionable morals and Slovakia will be well on the road to becoming a defacto dictatorship. You get what you pay (vote) for, so if the sheep willingly head for the slaughterhouse, they can only blame themselves when the crap hits the fan.