COALITION WINS BIG IN EP ELECTIONS AMIDST LOW TURNOUT

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000587 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV LO SUBJECT: COALITION WINS BIG IN EP ELECTIONS AMIDST LOW TURNOUT ¶1. SUMMARY. SLOVAKIA'S RULING COALITION WON A SURPRISING EIGHT OF FOURTEEN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SEATS. SLOVAKIA HAD THE LOWEST VOTER TURNOUT OF LESS THAN SEVENTEEN PERCENT. WIDESPREAD SKEPTICISM RESULTED IN VOTER APATHY AS MOST SLOVAKIS CONSIDERED THEIR COUNTRY'S INFLUENCE IN THE EP AS MINIMAL. MANY VOTERS FELT THAT THEY LACKED USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE ELECTIONS AND THE EP. END SUMMARY. ¶2. SLOVAKIA ELECTED FIVE PARTIES TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (EP) ON JUNE 13. THE RULING COALITION SURPRISINGLY WON EIGHT OF THE FOURTEEN SEATS. SLOVAK DEMOCRATIC AND CHRISTIAN UNION (SDKU) PLACED FIRST WITH 17.1 PERCENT OF THE VOTE (3 SEATS),CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (KDH) WON 16.2 PERCENT (3 SEATS) AND THE HUNGARIAN COALITION (SMK) 13.2 PERCENT (2 SEATS). THE JUNIOR COALITION PARTY, ALLIANCE OF A NEW CITIZEN (ANO) DID NOT MAKE IT OVER THE FIVE PERCENT THRESHOLD (4.7 PERCENT),DESPITE RUNNING A FLASHY CAMPAIGN. THE OPPOSITION PARTY SMER, A LONG-TIME FAVORITE, AND PEOPLE'S UNION-MOVEMENT FOR A DEMOCRATIC SLOVAKIA (LU-HZDS) WON 17.04 AND 16.9 PERCENT RESPECTIVELY, GARNERING THREE SEATS EACH. NEITHER THE COMMUNIST PARTY NOR THE NATIONALIST SLOVAK NATIONAL PARTY WON SEATS WITH 4.65 AND 4.55 PERCENT OF THE VOTE. ¶3. ALL EIGHT MEPS ELECTED FROM THE COALITION PARTIES WILL JOIN THE CENTER-RIGHT EUROPEAN PEOPLE PARTY-ED (EPP-ED) MILAN GALA, ZITA PLESTINSKA, PETER STASTNY (SDKU); JAN HUDACKY, MIROSLAV MIKOLASIK, ANNA ZABORSKA (KDH); EDIT BAUER, ARPAD DUKA-ZOLYOMI (SMK). SMER'S MONIKA BENOVA, MILOS KOTEREC AND VLADIMIR MANKA WILL JOIN THE EUROPEAN SOCIALIST PARTY (PES). PETER BACO, SERGEJ KOZLIK AND IRENA BELOHORSKA OF LU-HZDS WILL BE AMONG "OTHERS" AS THEIR PARTY DOES NOT HAVE ANY PARTNER IN THE INTERNATIONAL PARTY ORGANIZATIONS. ¶4. ELECTION TURNOUT WAS EXTREMELY LOW AT 16.96 PERCENT, THE LOWEST IN EUROPE. VOTER APATHY, LACK OF COMPREHENSIBLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EP FROM THE MEDIA AND THE POLITICAL PARTIES, AND A WIDESPREAD FEELING THAT FOURTEEN SLOVAKS CANNOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN A BODY OF 732 MEPS CONTRIBUTED TO THE LOW TURNOUT. COMMENT -------------- ¶5. ONCE AGAIN, POLLING PROVED TO BE AN UNRELIABLE PREDICTOR IN THESE ELECTIONS. PARTIES WITH EXISTING AND STABLE REGIONAL STRUCTURES AND A LOYAL VOTER CADRE, SUCH AS KDH, LU-HZDS, AND SMK BENEFITED FROM THE LOW TURNOUT. SMER'S SUPPORTERS, HOWEVER, ARE LESS PREDICTABLE WITH LESS OF A VOTER TRACK RECORD. PRE-ELECTION POLLING SUGGESTED THAT SMER WOULD GARNER ABOUT 20-25 PERCENT OF THE VOTES. PM DZURINDA'S SDKU IS THE REAL WINNER. AFTER FAILING TO TURN-OUT IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND POLLING IN THE SINGLE DIGITS FOR THE PAST YEAR, SDKU VOTERS PULLED OUT A VICTORY DUE TO LOW VOTER PARTICIPATION. WEISER NNNN