2006 Slovak parliamentary election

2006 Slovak parliamentary election

17 June 2006
All 150 seats in the National Council 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,335,917 (54.67%) 15.40 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Robert Fico Mikuláš Dzurinda Ján Slota Party SMER–SD SDKÚ-DS SNS Last election 25 seats, 13.5% 28 seats, 15.1% 0 seats, 3.3% Seats won 50 / 150 31 / 150 20 / 150 Seat change 25 3 20 Popular vote 671,185 422,815 270,230 Percentage 29.1% 18.4% 11.7% Swing 15.7 pp 3.3 pp 8.4 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   130px 130px Leader Béla Bugár Vladimír Mečiar Pavol Hrušovský Party SMK ĽS–HZDS KDH Last election 20 seats, 11.2% 36 seats, 19.5% 15 seats, 8.3% Seats won 20 / 150 15 / 150 14 / 150 Seat change 0 21 1 Popular vote 269,111 202,540 191,443 Percentage 11.7% 8.8% 8.3% Swing 0.5 pp 10.7 pp 0.1%
400px Results of the election, showing vote strength by district.
Prime Minister before election Mikuláš Dzurinda SDKÚ-DS Prime Minister Robert Fico Smer-SD

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006. Direction – Social Democracy emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 50 of the 150 seats. Its leader Robert Fico was appointed Prime Minister on 4 July 2006, leading a three-party centre-left populist coalition.

Background

Originally the election was planned for 16 September 2006. However, on 8 February the government proposed calling an early election after the Christian Democratic Movement left the coalition government. This proposal was passed by the Parliament on 9 February and signed by the President on 13 February. For the first time Slovak citizens living abroad could vote, using absentee ballots. A total of 21 parties contested the elections.

Aftermath

On 28 June Fico announced that the government coalition would consist of his Smer-SD party, together with the Slovak National Party and People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. The Party of European Socialists (PES) criticized this decision because of nationalist statements of the leader of the Slovak National Party and subsequently suspended Smer-SD's membership.

External links

• Official results
• Slovak Election Data Project
• Electoral Geography
• BBC coverage of election results