On Saturday, Slovaks went to the polls and chose, well as is typical here, the result was not reality.
Those other Europeans who wish to pause in their preoccupation with the Belgian and Dutch elections, French austerity policy, and least not we forget the World Cup; a interesting and historical significant thing happened in Central Europe.
A post Communist country elected a party that cannot form a government leaving the opposition parties actually in power. And surprises of surprises, the main opposition party’s leader is a woman! Making her the next prime minister.
Yes, Slovakia, that other half of the nation still confusingly referred to by older people as Czechoslovakia, independent since 1993, member of the EU since 2004 and the eurozone since 2009; first post communist nation to do so, is also the first to have a female prime minister.
The cynics and detractors will have much to say about the circumstances of her elevation to the office, but the historical significance should not be overlooked.
As a foreigner I am quite proud of my adopted home and would like to offer some suggestions to consider for the next four years.
1. Be the PM and by extension coalition government for ALL Slovakia. The biggest complaint by Slovaks living outside of Bratislava is that money and resources stay in the Western part of the country and in particular the capital. With recent flooding and regional development lacking in the Central and Eastern parts of the nation now is the time to “grow Slovakia”.
2. Open Government. Slovaks are cynics on the issue of trust in government and apathic towards politicians. Partly this is due to forty years of communism and no democratic tradition, but also it is due to the corruption and scandals of the nations’ first 16 years. As the new government, but with prior experience, now is the time for transparency. As the first female leader of your party and Prime Minister be bold in this regard.
3. It was this government coalition, minus newbie SaS (though it’s leader was a member of a coalition party) that is recognized for bringing economic growth to the country. Bring the same intelligence and strong policies now in the time of economic crisis.
Finally, good luck! I am most interested in seeing what shall happen.
