Ms Caputova took 41% of the vote in the first round of Slovakia's presidential election. She looks set to win the run-off
ago tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Slovakia’s cities. Shocked into action by the murder of Jan Kuciak, a young journalist probing links between ministers and organised crime, and his fiancée, they demanded an end to the corruption of their country’s elite. The protests toppled Robert Fico, the prime minister, and galvanised a generation.
They also convinced Zuzana Caputova, a 45-year-old liberal lawyer with no political experience, to run for president. “I suddenly found myself failing to justify why somebody else and not myself should assume responsibility for bringing about change,” she says. On March 16th, after a disciplined and dignified campaign, Ms Caputova took 41% of the vote in the first round of Slovakia’s presidential election. She is set to win the run-off on March 30th.
The election also shone a light on Slovakia’s darker corners. Between them an Islamophobic populist and an outright neo-Nazi secured a quarter of the vote. Grigorij Meseznikov, a political analyst in Bratislava, says such “anti-system” forces are growing stronger. Yet although Ms Caputova’s support for the, climate policies and gay rights places her light-years away from the reactionary right, she hopes to seduce some of their voters with a Macronesque message of change.
Indeed, her rise has much to do with voters’ frustration with the grubby clientelism nurtured by Mr Fico’s Smer party, which remains in government. Beset by feuding, Smer will struggle in the run-up to a parliamentary vote that must be held in the next year. Two days before the presidential election, a businessman who cultivated links with Smer was charged with ordering Kuciak’s murder. A useful reminder of why Slovaks are demanding change.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Anti-graft campaigner Caputova leads Slovak presidential election first roundAnti-corruption campaigner Zuzana Caputova led Slovakia's presidential elec...
Read more »
Anti-corruption campaigner set to win Slovakia's presidential voteAn anti-corruption campaigner with no previous experience of public office is se...
Read more »
Slovakia could get its first female president in ballotBRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Voters in Slovakia are selecting a new head of state in an election that could give the country its first female president. The leading contenders are Zuzana...
Read more »
Ichiro says goodbye to adoring fans; Mariners beat A's in 12Ichiro Suzuki was showered with cheers and chants Thursday night while taking his final bow in a magnificent career that lasted nearly three decades when the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 in 12 innings. The 45-year-old Ichiro went 0 for 4 in the second game of the Major...
Read more »
Ad-tech companies are moving full speed ahead to chase OTT ad dollars. Here are the 13 companies poised to win the most.Companies like TVision, FreeWheel, Tru Optik, and Google are leading the charge into OTT.
Read more »
New 'Aurora' supercomputer poised to be fastest in U.S. historyThis powerful new computer could help researchers model climate change or discover new cancer drugs. - NBCNewsMACH
Read more »
Jimmy Carter is poised to be the president who has lived the longest in US historyJimmy Carter tied with George H.W. Bush on Thursday at 94 years, 172 days old as the oldest-living ex-president.
Read more »
Florida man poised for guilty plea proceeding in New YorkNEW YORK (AP) — A Florida man who authorities say sent pipe bombs to prominent critics of President Donald Trump is expected to plead guilty Thursday.
Read more »