Slovak president race: upstart vs. EU official in runoff
Caputova wins first round of presidential election
17 March, 15:20Parliament can override the veto with a simple majority, however. The government, led by the prime minister, possesses most executive powers Andrej Kiska, a successful businessman-turned-philanthropist, was not standing for a second five-year term in the largely ceremonial post. Kiska backed Caputova in the vote. Caputova has little experience in politics while attracting voters who are appalled by corruption and mainstream politics. She only recently became vice chairman of the non-governmental Progressive Slovakia, a liberal political party. She said she was planning to travel around the country ahead of the runoff to persuade those who voted for unsuccessful candidates to vote for her. Caputova, as well Kiska, supported the huge street protests that led to the fall of former Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition government amid a political crisis triggered by the slayings last year of an investigative reporter and his fiancee. The reporter was investigating possible widespread government corruption. A career diplomat, Sefcovic, 52, was a member of the Communist Party before the anti-Communist 1989 Velvet Revolution. Sefcovic accepted an offer to stand from Fico's left-wing Smer-Social Democracy party. Sefcovic joined the commission in 2009 and became a vice president in 2010. (ANSA-AP).