The Slovak general election will be held on Feb. 29, 2020, and the campaign before the election begins on Tuesday, Nov. 5, parliament Chairman Andrej Danko (SNS) announced.
According to election polls, the government party Smer (Social Democrats) led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico is still the frontrunner to win.
At the moment, it looks like up to nine parties could get into parliament. To cross the necessary threshold, Slovak parties need to receive five percent of the vote. Many politicians are in fierce competition for voters, such as former president, Andrej Kiska, with his For the People Party or ex-Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar with the Slovak League.
Besides a host of new political parties, there will also be a new development during the upcoming Slovak election. For the first time, an extended moratorium on the publication of election polls will likely apply.
“We live in a difficult time full of unverified information. I wish the people could have objective information that they can evaluate responsibly,” Danko said.
Danko and his SNS party were among those pushing the law change. The moratorium would be imposed on election polls 50 days before the elections.
If President Zuzana Čaputová signs the change into law, it means that less than two months before the elections, Slovaks will not be aware of where their parties stand. Until now, the election poll moratorium was typically in force for 14 days before the elections.
The Slovak general elections will take place one week after the second anniversary of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak.
