Slovakia will hold a snap parliamentary election in a few months. The frontrunners in the polls so far are two former fellow party members – chairman of the SMER-Social Democracy party Robert Fico and Peter Pellegrini, chairman of the HLAS-Social Democracy party. The second man in question is whom we spoke to, chiefly about the election and the current situation in Slovakia.
Heger's no-confidence cabinet had been in power for some time, the snap election is only due in September...
We're witnessing a breach of fundamental rules that govern the functioning of a democratic state. I've not seen a democratic state in Europe run like this following the collapse of a government. Alas, the Slovak public is bearing witness to the violation of every written and unwritten rule that has formed over the 30 years of our sovereign republic's existence. What Matovič and Heger dared do wasn't presumed even by Vladimír Mečiar when he lost the parliamentary majority. Following the vote of no confidence in the government, HLAS- -Social Democracy clearly demanded that a snap parliamentary election be held as soon as the constraints of the law would allow. We proposed the 24th of June. Our proposal didn't pass, nor did those of other opposition parties. Could you imagine that a government that has been voted out in December last year would still be in power 8 months later? I do have to say that a certain amount of responsibility for this matter also lies with Madam President. If she had insisted that the snap election be held as soon as possible, the situation could have been entirely different. As things stand, the chaos and disruption of the state continue unchecked and there are people in power who should have long been preparing for their resignation where political culture is concerned. This situation has led to a growing sense of anger in society and calls for a firm hand. HLAS proposed a constitutional law in the Parliament that clearly defines the deadlines for the calling of snap elections because such chaos and disruption simply cannot be repeated.
Should Slovakia continue providing such massive military support to Ukraine?
We've always been very clear in saying that if the government wants to help Ukraine, it needs to help the Slovak people twice as much. The war and the economic crisis literally smothered the people, they felt no support from the state, they got poorer, and fear and anger have taken hold in society. Just look at one single data point – 500 000 people have fallen below the poverty threshold. Seniors have turned to the president for help because the government hasn't taken care of them and they're left with all of 50 cents to get by after paying all their expenses. It naturally follows that, when all the government spoke of was its foreign policy agenda and not how it plans to help the people, there came opposition parties that started leveraging this anger. They questioned the aid and built their agenda around that. That is not how HLAS does things. We must help Ukraine because its territorial integrity has been disrupted and that's a dangerous precedent for Slovakia, too. However, we've always had four fundamental conditions. The aid always has to be in line with Slovak law, it must be provided in conjunction with other countries, economic support for the people must be secured, and Slovakia's defensive capacity mustn't be jeopardized. The aid that the government provided to Ukraine wasn't always in line with these conditions and that was the framework that HLAS used to gauge whether it will support the government's decisions to help Ukraine.
Eduard Heger's government handed over all 13 of Slovakia's MiG fighter jets to Ukraine. Did that happen with your support and was it within its authority as a no-confidence government?
We were very clear about our stance. A government that had lost the vote of confidence in Parliament was no longer allowed to decide on matters such as donating our air force to a foreign state. HLAS based its position on an analysis which clearly stated that not even the Parliament was entitled to rule on such an important matter because it doesn't have the power to divest the government of this kind of authority. There is no precedent for this in our constitution or any of our laws. It was the government's political decision and it must bear the political responsibility for it before the voters.
Your party is battling Robert Fico's SMER for first place in the polls. Where do you see the differences between your platform and what you offer to the voters and that of SMER?
Our policy is based on positive thinking that aims to be for something instead of against something. We are aware that the public is currently feeling strong emotions of anger but HLAS refuses to ride the ensuing political wave in a superficial manner. Similarly, we refuse to do politics as a spectacle where the deciding factor is the number of likes and shares on social media. We want to do responsible social politics, to build a strong social state that will take care of its people. Our principal interest are the people, their quality of life from birth to old age. We stand against politics that focuses on revenge and looking to the past and we offer solutions for the present as well as the future. We've offered a society-wide accord to the people that creates a space where understanding can be reached with local governments, social groups, employers, and unions to join together. And to jointly form a program for the state. We've already met with some of these groups. We've also offered the voters our National Petition For Change, which aims to bring people together and promote the idea of a strong social state. Politicians of today are racing to come up with whatever will land them in the spotlight on any given day instead of thinking about what happens to the people and the state in a month, a year, four years, or even with a decade-long outlook. We are offering solutions and connecting with people. Not anger, not negative emotion, but solutions and expertise are the glue that Slovakia needs.
The current situation in the Slovak political scene is confusing and things might not change much after the election. Do you draw a line somewhere when seeking coalition partners for the next government and are Robert Fico and his SMER as well as far-right leaning parties behind this line?
HLAS-Social Democracy has ruled out two parties from potential cooperation: the Kotlebists and Matovič's OĽANO. I do have to point out, however, that ruling out parties from cooperation has become a bit of a trend in the election campaign. Speaking for HLAS-Social Democracy, I want to say that we wish to win the election, to be as strong as possible. As for SMER, all I will say is that we are uneasy about their double-faced political nature. On one hand, they speak of cooperation; on the other, they take concrete actions and initiatives that contradict those words. I believe that the voters will gradually start noticing this more. In the end, the people will decide everything and they will be the ones dealing the hand that determines which coalition is good for Slovakia from September onward.
Are you aiming to become the PM, or are you perhaps considering the presidential mantle? Is Zuzana Čaputová a good Slovak president?
My ambition is to achieve the best possible result in the parliamentary election. Slovakia needs a change after thirty years and I want to take part in that change. A strong state and a trustworthy government of experts that helps the people is what Slovakia needs. I have to say what I tend to say often where Zuzana Čaputová is concerned. She remains silent when she should be speaking out and taking decisive action and vice versa. In being meek and indecisive she bears partial responsibility for the fact that we were ruled by a government of no confidence. Regardless, I believe that a fundamental shift will happen. Slovakia will find its way back to the right path. And based on our society-wide accord with various professional and social groups we will push Slovakia forward and start catching up to not only the Czech Republic but also more advanced countries in the EU.
The author is a European editor of Deník
CV BOX
Peter Pellegrini (born October 6, 1975, in Banská Bystrica) is a Slovak MP, chair of the HLAS-Social Democracy party, former Slovak prime minister, and ex-minister of education and healthcare.
He graduated in finance, banking, and investing from the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and from the Faculty of Economics at the Technical University of Košice. He went on to become an entrepreneur.
In 2000, he joined the SMER-Social Democracy party and was elected an MP in 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2020. He was the Slovak prime minister for two years from 2018.
Following inter-party discord, he left in 2020, established a new one (HLAS-Social Democracy), and was elected its chair in 2020.
STATE IN DISARRAY
Peter Pellegrini takes a very critical view of the current state of affairs in his country. What does he see as Slovakia's biggest issue of today? "Slovakia's current issue is that the state is in disarray," he says resolutely. "An incompetent government that has failed on all levels of managing the state. It disrupted discourse with the public, it has the lowest level of trust teetering on the 20 percent threshold. Its ineptitude has jeopardized our ability to draw on funds from the Recovery Plan. They haven't built a single hospital. Slovakia grows poorer and is even starting to lag behind the Czech Republic. Fixing the damage caused by this government's ineptitude and unprofessional behavior will be no small feat."
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