Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006.Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1747 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.Nohlen & Stöver, p1757
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.Nohlen & Stöver, pp1753-1754
Participating parties Party Ideology Political position Leader Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) Social democracy Centre-left Robert Fico Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ–DS) Liberal conservatism Centre-right Mikuláš Dzurinda Slovak National Party (SNS) National conservatism Far-right Ján Slota Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK/MKP) Hungarian minority interests Centre-right Béla Bugár People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS–HZDS) Slovak nationalism Syncretic Vladimír Mečiar Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) Christian democracy Centre-right Pavol Hrušovský
Results
Results by region
Region Smer SDKÚ–DS SNS SMK–MKP ĽS–HZDS KDH KSS SF ÁNOOther parties Bratislava Region 21.4236.05 8.80 6.12 6.75 7.87 2.96 5.77 1.38 2.94 Trnava Region 23.26 15.93 7.8329.00 7.46 7.39 3.03 2.58 0.98 2.60 Trenčín Region33.98 15.03 15.90 0.34 14.29 7.93 4.74 3.34 1.20 3.23 Nitra Region 24.82 12.30 9.3231.67 7.98 5.41 2.90 2.19 1.07 2.31 Žilina Region33.01 14.78 18.83 0.27 10.80 10.91 4.01 3.37 1.37 2.65 Banská Bystrica Region31.08 15.74 13.37 12.49 8.05 5.07 5.12 3.31 1.62 4.17 Prešov Region35.44 17.93 10.73 0.34 8.40 13.97 4.26 3.27 1.59 4.21 Košice Region29.48 19.20 8.63 14.27 6.70 7.73 4.00 3.87 2.07 3.99 Total in Slovakia29.14 18.36 11.73 11.68 8.79 8.31 3.88 3.47 1.42 3.62 Cities28.81 24.13 11.09 7.92 7.56 7.53 3.83 4.49 1.64 2.96 Villages29.54 11.22 12.51 16.32 10.31 9.26 3.94 2.20 1.15 3.49
Aftermath On 28 June, Fico announced that the government coalition would consist of his Smer–SD, together with the SNS and ĽS–HZDS. The Party of European Socialists (PES) criticized this decision because of nationalist statements of the leader of the SNS and subsequently suspended Smer–SD's membership.
References
External links Official results Slovak Election Data Project Electoral Geography BBC coverage of election results