Far-Right Slovak Party Jumps to Second Place in Opinion Poll
(Bloomberg) -- Slovakia's far-right People's Party jumped to the runner-up spot in an opinion poll as next month's presidential election has put a spotlight on its leader, who has praised the country's World War II Fascist leadership.
The People's Party would win 11.7 percent of the vote if general elections were held this month, according to the Feb. 21-26 poll from the Focus agency published on Thursday. It was second after Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini's Smer party, which had 21.2 percent. Support for the People's Party rose by more than 3 percentage points from January, when it ranked fifth.
The party won seats in parliament in 2016 for the first time and is currently under investigation for spreading extremist ideology. Its chairman, former high school teacher Marian Kotleba, is running for president. Known for once wearing Nazi-like uniform at campaign events, he's not expected to advance to a runoff ballot scheduled for March 30.
Slovakia's political scene has been in turmoil since the murder of an investigative journalist last year that triggered the largest anti-government protests since the fall of Iran Curtain. It also forced out then Prime Minister Robert Fico, the founder of Smer. The three-party coalition would lose a majority in parliament, according the poll.
To contact the reporter on this story: Radoslav Tomek in Bratislava at rtomek@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
