Leftist opposition party wins election, according to exit poll

• published: 30 Jul 2015
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++NIGHT SHOTS++ 1. Mid of Robert Fico, president of smer-Social Democracy Party, entering party headquarters 2. Mid of reporters 3. Mid of Fico in interview 4. Close of photographers 5. Mid of Fico in interview 6. SOUNDBITE: (Slovak) Robert Fico, president of smer-Social Democracy Party: "I expect that after the parliamentary elections there will be a round table with all the parties that gained more than five percent. There we will see who is able to cooperate. So, some will exclude themselves from these discussions and will leave, some will remain. It won't be easy to create a government but in any case, our project, our alternative of strong, stable, unified government is still alive." 7. Close of cameras 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Robert Fico, president of smer-Social Democracy: "We are looking for a very stable government. Slovakia really needs a very stable government. So, we will do our best." 9. Wide of reporters STORYLINE: A leftist opposition party in Slovakia has won an early parliamentary election on Saturday, according to an exit poll, in a vote brought on by the government's collapse in a confidence vote amid a major corruption scandal. The Smer-Social Democracy Party of former Prime Minister Robert Fico will receive 39.6 percent of the vote, according to the poll conducted by the Focus agency for state television and radio. It said the party will win exactly half of the 150-seat Parliament, one seat short of a majority that would allow it to govern alone. The result would mean Fico will need a coalition partner to form a majority government. Fico said he was satisfied but said it was too early to jump to a conclusion. Fico said he was ready to discuss a possible coalition with any party that gains parliamentary seats, adding his dream to have a "strong, stable, unified government is still alive." Fico is considered a populist leader who is pledging to maintain a welfare state, increase corporate tax and raise income tax for the highest earners. The outgoing four-party coalition was projected to combine for just 31.4 percent, or 59 seats, as it faced voter anger over a major corruption scandal. The new Ordinary People party, that was campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket, would receive 8.8 percent, or 16 seats. Fico's potential partner, the ultranationalist Slovak National Party, would be below the 5-percent threshold needed to win parliamentary representation. Analysts had predicted a record low turnout of just 40 percent as voters register their anger over allegations that a private financial group bribed government and opposition politicians in 2005-06 to win lucrative privatisation deals. The "Gorilla" files - posted online by an anonymous source in December and said to be based on wiretaps - have rocked Slovak politics. One former economy minister is said to have received the equivalent of 10 (m) million Euros (13 (m) million US Dollars) in bribes. Outgoing Prime Minister Iveta Radicova's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union looked to be hard hit by the allegations. Radicova's party was in power in 2005-06 and the then-prime minister, Mikulas Dzurinda, is now the foreign minister and party chairman. It would win 8.1 percent of the vote, despite overseeing an economic boom driven by solid growth, strong exports and the implementation of much-needed pension reforms. It won 15.4 percent at the 2010 ballot. Disappointed by her government's collapse, Radicova is quitting politics and plans to lecture at Britain's Oxford University. Fico, whose party was in power in 2006-10, says he is innocent of the corruption allegations, even though he himself has been implicated, because he couldn't have influenced any decisions since he was part of the opposition. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a2aaa3780531f2fd6956925861684183 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork