Slovaks dealt a knockout blow to hardline nationalist former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar in a presidential election, choosing the more moderate Ivan Gasparovic just weeks before joining the EU.
The electoral committee said yesterday that according to preliminary results, Gasparovic, a former political ally of Meciar, took 59.91 percent with all 50 districts reporting.
His five year term will see the center-left Gasparovic, 63, lead the country as it heads into the EU next month.
Much of his campaign has been built around criticizing the current center-right government and its reforms, but he has been very vague on what he would do if elected.
The president holds a largely ceremonial position but he does have an important veto that could cause problems for the government as it tries to push through EU-inspired reforms.
"I did not underestimate myself and the fact that I am here means that others did not do so either, mainly the voters did not underestimate me," Gasparovic said.
The election run-off that excluded the pro-government early favorite Eduard Kukan reflects a broader rise of populist forces in new EU members, which analysts say may complicate the bloc's functioning after enlargement.
Wary diplomats who once shunned Slovakia for anti-democratic policies when Meciar ruled and Gasparovic was at his side as parliamentary speaker said that deeds, not words, were needed to allay fears that he will hinder Slovakia's integration with the EU and the NATO security alliance, which it joined last month.
Gasparovic has not said how he will wield the presidential veto, but he was supported by the populist SMER party of Robert Fico and both often railed against government reforms saying they hurt Slovaks and have kept unemployment high at 16 percent.
"He will try to become a strong player ... I think his background will connect him more with the opposition, and mainly with the SMER party. He will try to influence the approval of laws," said political analyst Rober Kotian.
The loss is a crushing blow for Meciar, a one-time amateur boxer who also lost a presidential run-off election in 1999 against Rudolf Schuster. Schuster was eliminated in the first round of voting this time around.
Though Meciar was criticized by the West for his anti-democratic rule in the mid-1990s, he has remained popular in rural Slovakia with his nationalism.
He was considered the favorite after he easily won the first round of voting two weeks ago with 32.7 percent to 22.3 percent for Gasparovic.
Many Slovaks characterized the election as a choice between the lesser of two evils, and the result shows Gasparovic, parliamentary speaker during Meciar's term as Prime Minister from 1994 to 1998, may have been blamed less for past problems.
The committee said turnout was 43.5 percent, down slightly from the first round at 48 percent but much higher than many analysts had predicted.
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