Democracy Reporting International would like to thank Viktória Sutórisová, Legal Expert from the think-tank VIA IURUIS, for assistance in preparing this report.
Slovakia will hold its early parliamentary election on Saturday, 9/30/2023, a vote triggered by a motion of no confidence held in 2022 against the incumbent government. Slovakia had to amend its constitution to allow an early vote. Two candidates with opposing views on the rule of law are running neck and neck in the polls, with SMER, led by former longtime Prime Minister Robert Fico, in the lead. While overtly social-democratic, SMER has also been softly Eurosceptic on several issues, such as migration and support for Ukraine, and Fico’s government has presided over the most excessive period of a rule of law crisis in the country. Polling closely behind SMER is Progressive Slovakia, led by Michal Šime’010dka, a former journalist and current MEP, representing a strongly pro-EU centrist-liberal platform with declared ambitions to reform the country and alleviate the rule of law shortages.
With reduced chances to hit first place but polling strongly at 13% is also a social-democratic one: HLAS, led by another former PM of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini. HLAS is more euro-enthusiastic than SMER and runs on a catch-all platform of centrist ideas. A coalition of centrist and centre-right parties led by the victors of the 2020 parliamentary elections O’013daNO is currently fourth in polls. This group, too, presents pro-European and reformist views.
Slovakia uses a proportional representation system with an electoral threshold of 5% to elect the 150 members of the National Council (Národná rada). Unusually among EU Member States, Slovakian parliamentary elections feature just one voting constituency for the entire country.
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Election campaign: The economy and Ukraine push the rule of law into the background
The rule of law featured in the election campaign but to a limited degree, in stark contrast to the last elections. During the 2020 campaign, issues of independence of the judiciary, preventing corruption and freedom of journalists following the 2018 murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, took the front stage. The public debate has been centred around the economy and challenges arising from the invasion of Ukraine, including whether and to what degree Slovakia should continue supporting the country under Russian full-scale attack.
Progressive and centrist parties (Progressive Slovakia, Christian Democratic Movement, Democrats) have emphasized rule of law issues and campaigned on items such as judiciary reform, strengthening the fight against corruption and protecting journalists. Front-runner SMER and HLAS (a party that spun off from SMER) didn’t address these topics. Of note is the presence of multiple right-wing parties that campaigned on platforms ranging from anti-LGBT sentiments to outright rejection of the European Union.
The National Council enjoys powers and competencies typical for a unicameral parliament in a parliamentary system: it’s the primary lawmaker that also provides the vote of confidence for the Prime Minister and appoints several key offices in the state, among them judges of the Constitutional Court and the prosecutor general.
Key rule of law challenges in Slovakia
Independence and efficiency of the judiciary: Society perceives Slovak judges as lacking full independence, and court proceedings remain some of the longest in the EU. Since 2020, Slovakia introduced reforms aimed at improving both areas have yet to have full effect. In particular, the independence of the members of the Judicial Council remains not fully safeguarded with the lack of proper legislation detailing possible grounds for their dismissal.
The position of prosecutors vis a vis prosecutor general: The Slovak prosecutor general has the power to annul any decision made by their subordinates, and those, in turn, cannot appeal against such annulment or challenge it in any other way. This infringes on the independence of prosecutors, who should be able to conduct their activities without fearing having their decisions struck down by the prosecutor general. The Slovak government has proposed relevant legislation to address the issue, but it has not yet been enacted.
Fight against corruption: Societal perception of corruption in Slovakia remains high, and despite being a priority item since the 2020 parliamentary elections, progress has only partially remedied the situation. While the core legal and institutional framework for fighting corruption is in place, the national policy plan for preventing corruption, currently running until the end of 2023, has not been updated yet. Lobbying remains unregulated in Slovakia, and safeguards against undue influence by businesses and other actors on the legislative process remain weak.
Safety of journalists: The shocking murder of the journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018 and the subsequent lack of a proper reaction by the government shook the country and were a major factor in the political upheaval brought about by the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019 and 2020. Despite these developments, the safety of journalists remains an issue: Media and civil society report that verbal intimidation, harassment, SLAPPs and occasional physical violence are still commonplace.
Expert recommendations to improve the rule of law
- The long-awaited reform of the Slovak judiciary should be implemented fully towards strengthening the independence of Slovakian judges and improving the efficiency of courts, which in turn would improve the low trust in the judiciary among the population.
- Efforts to eliminate corruption and tackle white-collar crime should be intensified to ensure that high-profile perpetrators don’t evade justice, and an updated anti-corruption action plan needs to be elaborated urgently. A regulation of lobbying should be implemented to provide undue influence on the legislative process.
- Slovak journalists need increased protection against intimidation, SLAPPs and violence, and the culture of permission for attacks against reporters and media outlets is damaging the information landscape in the country.
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