Slovakia: Social Democrats form a pact with the extreme right

Political life is dominated by a tiny elite that acquired enormous wealth through the privatisation of formerly state-owned assets. This new ruling layer originated in the old nomenklatura, from among the former oppositionists, or from the criminal milieu, and is represented by various party formations that rarely last longer than one legislative period.

Election campaigns are characterised by violence and bitterness, but in the end the parties are willing to form a coalition with anyone in order to cling to power.

This is the pattern of politics in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Baltic states and, particularly, Slovakia, where the social democratic Smer, whose roots go back to the Communist Party, has formed a government coalition with two extreme right-wing parties, one of which includes the Slovakian fascist Josef Tiso among its forbears.

Direction—Social Democracy (Smer-SD), under Robert Fico, emerged as the victor in the June 17 parliamentary elections. With 29.1 percent of the vote, it saw its 2002 result more than double.

The outgoing centre-right coalition headed by Mikulas Dzurinda suffered a heavy defeat. Dzurinda’s Slovakian Christian Democratic Union (SDKU) won 8.4 percent of the vote. Election turnout was 54.7 percent—the lowest in a parliamentary election since Slovakia separated from the Czech Republic.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/slov-j07.shtml