Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020. All 150 members of the National Council were elected and the leader of the resultant government party or coalition will become the Prime Minister. The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy, the Slovak National Party and Most–Híd led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of Smer–SD was defeated by the anti-corruption party Ordinary People led by Igor Matovič. However, as no single party or electoral coalition attained an absolute majority of seats, a post-election coalition was required to form a government. It was the first time since the 2006 election that Smer–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats in the National Council. On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity and For the People, though they had not agreed upon a common governing program.
The 150 members of the National Council will be elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with an electoral threshold of 5% for single parties, 7% for coalition groupings with two or three parties, and 10% for coalitions of four or more parties. The elections use the open list system, with seats allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. Voters will be able to cast up to four preferential votes for candidates on the list of the party they voted for. All participating parties must register 90 days before election day and pay a deposit of €17,000, which will be refunded to all parties gaining 3% or more of the vote. All Slovak citizens are allowed to vote except for convicted felons in prison, people declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court and citizens under 18 years of age. All citizens, who are 21 years of age or older and are permanent residents of Slovakia, are allowed to run as candidates except for prisoners, convicted felons and those declared ineligible to perform legal acts by court. Voters not present in their electoral district at the time of the elections are allowed to request a voting certificate, which allows them to vote in any district regardless of their residency. Voters abroad on election day are allowed to request a postal vote. According to the Central Election Committee approx. 20,000 Slovak citizens abroad have requested a postal vote during the last election. The deadline for requests passed on 10 January 2020.
Leadership changes
The Christian Democratic Movement and Party of the Hungarian Community were two parties which couldn't pass the 5 percent threshold to the parliament in 2016 but further gained more than 4%. KDH lost all of its 16 seats while SMK-MKP haven't gained any. Leader of the KDH, Ján Figeľ, announced his resignation few days after 2016 election. He was then replaced by Alojz Hlina on 11 June 2016. Leadership of the SMK-MKP, which was led by József Berényi, was taken over by József Menyhárt on 11 June 2016. On 12 August 2016, incumbent leader of coalition party Network, Radoslav Procházka, announced that he had no further intention to lead his party after a disastrous result in the election. A day later on 13 August at the party convention, it was decided that the new leader of the party would be Roman Brecely, his fellow party member and incumbent minister of transportation. He was the only candidate to stand up for the post although he didn't intend to run for the office. On 15 March 2018, Robert Fico announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Slovakia which the President Andrej Kiska accepted. Peter Pellegrini, currently Deputy Prime Minister for Investment & Informatization, has become the new Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic. Fico has remained the leader of Smer–SD, and kept his parliamentary mandate. Pellegrini's cabinet was appointed on 22 March 2018.
Opinion polls
Results
The ruling coalition comprising Direction – Social Democracy, the Slovak National Party and Most–Híd led by Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini of Smer–SD was defeated by the anti-corruption party Ordinary People led by Igor Matovič. However, as no single party or electoral coalition attained an absolute majority of seats, a post-election coalition will be required to form a government. It is likely to consist of at least the three centre-right and moderate conservative parties: Ordinary People, Freedom and Solidarity and For the People - which would together hold a total of 78 seats, but may also include the right-wing We Are Family party - which would expand the potential coalition's support to a constitutional majority total of 95 seats. This election was also the first time since the 2006 election that Smer–SD did not emerge as the party with the most seats in the National Council. The coalition of Progressive Slovakia and SPOLU failed to meet the 7% threshold for two-party coalitions to enter parliament by only 926 votes, surprising analysts, as they had been several percentage points above the threshold required in opinion polls as recently as a few days before the election, and polled above the threshold in exit polls taken on election day. The coalition submitted an electoral complaint with the Constitutional Court on 12 March seeking a recount, although they did not have any expectation it would significantly change the results, and only did so in order to clear doubts about the democratic process.
Government formation
On 4 March, Matovič was tasked by president Čaputová to form a new government. On 13 March, Matovič announced he had reached an agreement for a governing coalition with We Are Family, Freedom and Solidarity and For the People, though they had not agreed upon a common governing program. He has not disclosed his picks for the new cabinet, which are due to President Caputova on 14 March, but said that OĽaNO would retain the finance ministry and Richard Sulík, the leader of Freedom and Solidarity, would be economy minister.
