The Slovaks have elected a social-democratic minority government, dealing a blow to the neo-liberal agenda of the globalizers and the IMF, as implemented by incumbent conservative premier Mikuláš Dzurinda.After eight years of IMF- and EU-mandated "reforms", including the imposition of regressive consumption taxes and regressive flat income taxes, deficit reduction, restrictions on social welfare and other benefits, privatization of utilities and other key industries, relaxed labour laws, levying medical user fees, and removing foreign investment controls and tariff barriers, voters have said enough is enough. These "reforms" qualified Slovakia for membership in the EU two years ago.
Tomorrow President Ivan Gasparovic will formally ask social-democrat Robert Fico, a 41-year-old lawyer, to form a coalition government. His Smer party won a third of the 150 seats in parliament, on 29% of the popular vote.
Fico has pledged to roll back many of the "reforms" that have resulted in hardship for ordinary Slovaks. He will begin immediately negotiating with other parties to form a coalition.
“Fast economic growth will no longer be for the benefit of a narrow group of people,” he told reporters after Sunday’s vote.
“I will steer the country back to human dignity and towards a sense of social justice.”
Slovak unemployment levels are extremely high, topping 16 per cent last year, and many Slovaks believe they were better off under communism, according to a recent poll.
The rejection of the pro-free market government will come as a blow for the European commission, which is increasingly keen to press for greater economic liberalisation.
The “liberal agenda” of commission president José Manuel Barroso has been widely criticised by centre-left politicians across the EU who argue that it has failed to take into account the social cost of free market economics.
Source: news reports.
[ 19 June 2006: Message edited by: M. Spector ]