(1 Oct 2023)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bratislava - 1 October 2023
1. Pan of Progressive Slovakia Party leader, Michal Simecka, arriving at news conference
2. Wide of news conference
3. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Michal Simecka, leader of the Progressive Slovakia Party:
“We must say that Smer (party) is the winner, which we respect. But at the same time we believe that it is really bad news for Slovakia. And this bad news which will be even worse if Robert Fico will be able to form the government.”
4. Pan of news conference
5. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Michal Simecka, leader of the Progressive Slovakia Party:
“If the things go ahead in the way they were announced by the president, the mandate to form the government will go to Robert Fico. But despite this, we’ve said during our campaign, we’ll do everything possible to prevent it from happening. So Robert Fico won’t govern in Slovakia again.”
6. Wide of Simecka
7. Wide of news conference
8. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Michal Simecka, leader of the Progressive Slovakia Party:
“We are all aware what this would mean for the justice system, for the rule of law, for the political orientation and for the finances of this country.”
9. Wide of media
10. Pan of Simecka leaving
STORYLINE:
Slovakia's liberal candidate, Michal Simecka, accepted defeat in parliamentary election on Sunday, but said he'd like try to form a governing coalition if populist Robert Fico fails.
With results from almost 88% of about 6,000 polling stations counted by the Slovak Statistics Office, Fico and his Smer, or Direction, party led with 23.7 % of the vote.
The populist former prime minister campaigned on a pro-Russian and anti-American message.
Simecka's liberal, pro-West newcomer, the Progressive Slovakia Party, was a distant second with 15.6% of the votes cast on Saturday.
Simecka, who is deputy president of the European Parliament, said his party respected the result.
"We must say that Smer is the winner, which we respect. But at the same time we believe that it is really bad news for Slovakia. And this bad news which will be even worse if Robert Fico will be able to form the government," he told supporters at a news conference on Sunday.
Fico has vowed to withdraw Slovakia's military support for Ukraine in Russia's war if his attempt to return to power succeeded.
With no party winning a majority of seats, a coalition government will need to be formed.
The president traditionally asks an election's winner to try to form a government, so Fico is likely to become prime minister again.
He served as prime minister in 2006-2010 and again in 2012-2018.
Progressive Slovakia, which was formed in 2017, sees the country’s future as firmly tied to its existing membership in the EU and NATO.
The party also favours LGBTQ+ rights, a rarity among the major parties in a country that is a stronghold of conservative Roman Catholicism.
"We are all aware what this would mean for the justice system, for the rule of law, for the political orientation and for the finances of this country," Simecka said on Sunday.
AP video shot by Bela Szandelszky
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