Slovaks elect successor to first female president. An ally of populist premier is expected to win

Sign up for the View from Westminster e-mail for knowledgeable evaluation straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster e-mail

Slovaks headed to the ballots Saturday to elect a successor to Zuzana Čaputová, the nation’s first female president and a staunch backer of Slovakia’s neighbor Ukraine in its struggle towards Russia’s two-year invasion. She is not in search of a second time period.

Peter Pellegrini, an in depth ally of Slovakia’s  populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, is thought of a favourite within the race for the largely ceremonial submit of president. He leads a discipline of 9 candidates within the first spherical of the presidential election to change into the nation’s sixth head of state since Slovakia gained independence in 1993 after Czechoslovakia cut up in two.

Polls will shut at 2100 GMT and outcomes are expected Sunday.

If no candidate will get a majority, which is expected, the highest two finishers will undergo to a runoff on April 6.

Pellegrini, 48, who favors a robust position for the state, heads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) occasion that completed third within the Sept. 30 parliamentary election. His occasion joined a ruling coalition with Fico’s leftist Smer (Direction) occasion and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party. The new authorities instantly halted arms supply to Ukraine.

Former Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok, 59, a pro-Western profession diplomat is his most important rival.

“From my point of view, I did all I could,” Korčok said Saturday after casting the ballot in the town of Senec near the capital Bratislava. “It’s up to the people to consider carefully what the future head of state will look like.”

Korčok had additionally served because the ambassador to the United States and Germany, and firmly helps Slovakia’s European Union and NATO memberships.

Most public polls count on a slim victory for Pellegrini within the first spherical.

A former justice minister and decide, Štefan Harabin, 66, who has brazenly sided with Russia in its battle towards Ukraine is predicted to end third .

Another former international minister and profession diplomat, Ján Kubiš, and far-right chief Marian Kotleba are amongst different notable candidates.