Slovak President to Ask Corruption Fighter to Form Government

(Bloomberg) -- Slovakia's president said she'll ask anti-corruption crusader Igor Matovic to a form a government after his party triumphed in elections at the weekend.

Propelled by anger at the killing of an investigative reporter two years ago, four opposition groups -- led by Matovic's pro-Western Ordinary People -- won an unexpectedly large parliamentary majority. They prevailed after graft allegations damaged the ruling Smer party.

The ballot “showed there is an enormous desire to restore justice and fight corruption,” President Zuzana Caputova said Monday. “I believe the parties that represent potential partners will use this historic opportunity.”

The election leaves Slovakia rooted in Europe's mainstream -- heading off the risk it could deviate along the rebellious paths of neighboring Hungary and Poland and eliminating any chance of a far-right group joining the government. It comes less than a year after voters in the European Union and euro-region member elected their first woman president in a rebuke to nationalist and euroskeptic forces.

There are question marks, however, over the durability of the likely new government because of potential policy and personality clashes. The four parties won 95 of parliament's 150 seats -- enough to change the constitution.

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, Andrew Langley

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