Anti-corruption candidate Zuzana Caputova has won Slovakia's presidential election, making her the country's first female head of state. Ms Caputova, who has almost no political experience, defeated high-profile diplomat Maros Sefcovic, nominated by the governing party, in a second round run-off vote on Saturday. She framed the election as a struggle between good and evil. The election follows the murder of an investigative journalist last year. Ms Caputova cited Mr Kuciak's murder as one of the reasons she decided to run for president, which is a largely ceremonial role.
Her opponent was nominated by the ruling Smer-SD party, which is led by Robert Fico, who was forced to resign as prime minister following the killings.
Ms Caputova gained national prominence as a lawyer when she led a case against an illegal landfill lasting 14 years. Aged 45, a divorcee and mother of two, she is a member of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, which has no seats in parliament.
The opponent she defeated, Mr Sefcovic, is vice president of the European Commission. By Rob Cameron in Bratislava. Saturday night did feel like a moment. Addressing crowds of supporters in her impromptu election HQ at Bratislava's Habsburg-era indoor market, Zuzana Caputova quietly extolled values that now seem to come from a bygone political age: compassion, tolerance, truth.
But while liberals rejoice at what they see as proof the tide of populism in Central Europe can be turned, some urge caution. One analyst said darkly within hours of her election: "Expect Fico to launch a campaign against her right away, before June's inauguration.
The political newcomer soared to popularity in just a few months with a campaign that focused on a struggle for justice. The president is mostly a ceremonial role in the country of 5. But when Caputova takes office in June, she will have important blocking powers, will be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and will have power to appoint top judges. Caputova was born to a working-class family in the town of Pezinok in what was then central Czechoslovakia.
Her year-long case against the wealthy land developer involved organizing protests, filing lawsuits and writing petitions to the European Union.
The campaign earned her a prestigious Goldman Environmental prize in She recently became vice-chair of Progressive Slovakia, a party so new that it has not yet run in the parliamentary elections. Caputova built her campaign on a vow to fight corruption, by stripping the police and prosecutors of their political influence.
Kuciak, who had worked to expose corruption among the political elite was shot and killed in February Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. Statistic cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission.
This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. You can at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website. Learn more about who we are, how you can contact us and how we process personal data in our Privacy Policy. Please state your consent ID and date when you contact us regarding your consent. She is the mother of two daughters.
The Office of the President of the Slovak Republic can be contacted by the public via the contact form. For the media, there is a direct contact to the President's spokesperson. Being made from many individual grains, bread was used even in early Christian prayers as a
0コメント