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Riding a wave of public fury over corruption, liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova won Slovakia’s Presidential Election on Saturday, bucking a trend that has seen populist, anti-European Union politicians make gains across the continent.
Corruption
and change in political style were the main themes ahead of the run-off vote, which took place a year after journalist Jan Kuciak , who investigated high-profile fraud cases , and his fiancée were murdered at their home.
Caputova
, a pro-EU political novice who will be the eurozone country’s first female president , had 58.3% of the votes after results from 98.1% of voting districts were counted, ahead of European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic who took 41.7%.
Sefcovic, a respected diplomat who is also pro-EU, is backed by the ruling party Smer , the largest grouping in parliament that has dominated Slovak politics since 2006.
[Publicidad]
Caputova, who was the front runner having won the first round more than 20 percentage points ahead of Sefcovic, campaigned to end what she calls the capture of the state “ by people pulling strings from behind ”, a message that opinion polls show resonates with younger, educated voters.
The 45-year old member of a liberal non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party —which she pledged to leave if elected—has been endorsed by opposition parties and a junior party in the ruling coalition that represents the ethnic Hungarian minority, as well as outgoing President Andrej Kiska .
Caputova started her acceptance speech by thanking voters in Slovak , as well as in the Hungarian , Czech , Roma , and Ruthenian languages , turning to all main minority groups.
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“I am happy not just for the result but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism , to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary,” she told a crowd of supporters.
Slovakia’s president wields little day-to-day power but appoints Prime Ministers and can veto appointments of senior prosecutors and judges .
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