(ANSA-AFP) - BRATISLAVA, 24 MAR - Slovak Parliament Speaker
Peter Pellegrini and former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok will
face each other on April 6 in the presidential election runoff.
According to preliminary results from the Slovak Statistical
Office, Pellegrini received 40.39 percent of the vote with
two-thirds of the votes counted, while the liberal Korcok
received 36.90 percent. If Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini
wins the runoff it will remove a balance to the power of
populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. In office since last year,
Fico has characterized himself along with Hungarian Prime
Minister Viktor Orban as one of the most pro-Russian leaders in
Eastern Europe. In Slovakia, presidents play a largely
ceremonial role but are also the supreme commanders of the armed
forces, appoint central judges and bankers, and have veto power
that can slow down legislation.
The outgoing president, Zuzana Caputova, a human rights
activist, used these tactics last month to suspend part of the
revision of the Criminal Code that makes it more difficult to
investigate and punish corruption.But the 48-year-old Pellegrini
has indicated that he does not intend to act in the same way
with other controversial projects, including one that would give
Fico control of public TV--creating a potential clash with the
EU.The idea of a counterweight to the government "is absolutely
wrong" and promises only "conflicts between institutions,"
Pellegrini had said in January when he announced his candidacy.
(ANSA-AFP).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
