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Slovak opposition movement Ordinary People (OLANO) holds a strong lead in the EU member country's parliamentary election, an exit poll released on Saturday suggested.
The poll was in line with forecasts that voters in the central European country would oust the ruling center-left Smer party, which has dominated Slovakia's political landscape for more than a decade, amid growing anger over high-level graft and the murder of an investigative journalist.
Igor Matovic, leader of Slovak political party Ordinary People movement, stands before casting his vote during the country's parliamentary election at a polling station in Trnava, Slovakia, February 29, 2020. /Reuters
The poll by the Focus agency showed OLANO winning 25.8 percent of the vote, followed by Smer with 14.9 percent. It indicated OLANO would be best placed to lead negotiations on forming a new center-right government with other opposition conservative and liberal groups.
An OLANO-led government might struggle to agree on policies, however, as it would be made up parties including euroskeptics, conservatives and progressives.
Smer was on course to score its worst result since 2002. Its nationalist and Hungarian minority allies would not win any seats in Parliament, the poll showed.
The poll showed the far-right, anti-NATO People's Party, which had aspired to win the second spot in opinion polls around the turn of the year, was seventh with 6.5 percent.
OLANO leader Igor Matovic has pledged to clean up politics, an ambition encapsulated in his party's slogan: "Let's Beat the Mafia Together."
The political shift in the eurozone member started with the 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee. An investigation unearthed communications between a businessman now on trial for ordering the hit and politicians and judicial officials. The defendant has denied the charges.
The killing led to the biggest street protests in the post-communist era, forcing Smer leader Robert Fico to resign, though his party's coalition held on to power.
(CGTN)
