Elections 2024: "I will not forget this," the defeated Korčok attacked Pellegrini, who became the new president.
Slovakia elected a new president on Saturday (6. 4.). The president came from the duo Ivan Korčok and Peter Pellegrini. Both candidates had a significant lead over other competitors two weeks ago. This was also true in the case of the winner, who unexpectedly and with more than a five percent difference, became ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Korčok in the first round. Back then, 42.51 percent of voters gave their vote to him, while the head of Voice and concurrently the Speaker of Parliament Pellegrini appealed to just over 37.02 percent of people. How did the second round go?
Slovakia has elected a new head of state. The current leader of the Voice party and Speaker of Parliament, Peter Pellegrini, is moving into the presidential palace. Pellegrini's success in the second round of the presidential elections (more than 1.4 million votes) is the highest any candidate has ever achieved in the first or second round since 1999, when Rudolf Schuster won over 1.7 million votes in the decisive duel. For comparison, Ivan Gašparovič triumphed in 2004 with only 1,079,592 votes. Ivan Korčok's electoral gain in this year's elections reached 1,240,047 votes at 99.83% turnout, which would have been enough for him to win in the previous four second rounds.
Pellegrini in his first speech after his election triumph stated that various emotions are mixed within him.
"Slovaks have decided who they want to have as president. Today I stand before you with great humility and gratitude. It is a huge commitment for me and after what I had to go through in the campaign, the victory is a huge satisfaction for me,"
he stated.
"I will defend the national state interests of Slovakia, protect the interests of people and support the government in its efforts to improve the lives of people in Slovakia,"
Pellegrini added.
"This is how it's done to a bitch,"
said Robert Fico, leader of Smer-SD, to Petrov Pellegrini. He referred to his previous statement, where he told Pellegrini the exact opposite. According to him, citizens realize what would threaten them from progressives and liberal media.
"Long live Peter Pellegrini, long live the new president, long live the Slovak Republic,"
Fico concluded.
Ivan Korčok won the first round with a lead of almost five percent, but preliminary opinions assumed that he would not manage to get enough votes from unsuccessful candidates' voters. It was clear, for example, that voters like Štefan Harabin would not give him a vote, and this was confirmed. Pellegrini was also helped to victory by Hungarian nationality voters, who were mobilized by the Alliance leader and unsuccessful presidential candidate Krisztián Forró. Ivan Korčok managed to win only in the Bratislava region. All other regions ended with Peter Pellegrini's victory.
The presidential election caused several surprises. The election had extremely high turnout. The second surprise is that for the first time since 1999, both candidates received more than a million votes in the second round. 25 years ago, Rudolf Schuster received an arguably unbeatable over 1.7 million votes, Vladimir Meciar nearly 1.3 million.
The election results will significantly affect the functioning of the coalition, the Hlas party and parliament. It will have to be resolved who will become the new Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and of Hlas. In regards to the parliament, speculation and talk revolves around two candidates - Denisa Saková and Richard Raši. As for the Hlas party, all vice-presidents, as well as the general manager Matúš Šutaj Eštok, are in play.
"I will not forget this," declared the defeated Korčok on election night
Ivan Korčok admitted his defeat. He is disappointed and disheartened by the results, but he respects them. He congratulated his opponent Peter Pellegrini. In an emotional speech, he sent him a strong message.
"I will not forget this,"
he referred to Pellegrini.
"I'm disappointed. I am sincerely disappointed and disheartened. But I'm a sportsman at heart, so I respect the result,"
Korčok reacted.
Korčok wishes Pellegrini to be an "independent president, and to act from his own conviction and without commands".
"We have seen that the President of the Republic can be a person who leads a non-transparent campaign, in which it is not visible where the money is coming from. We have seen that the president can be a person who spreads hate and whips passions, who makes the other candidate a war candidate,"
Korčok said.
He ended his speech with these words.
"I won't forget this. I won't forget it not only because of my two sons, but also because of the citizens of the Slovak Republic. Not only high participation decided, but fear decided. Those who are hidden in state functions spread this fear,"
Korčok added.
President Zuzana Čaputová congratulated Peter Pellegrini by phone in the evening for his victory in the presidential elections
She appreciated the high voter turnout. She believes it is important for the new president to act in a way, from the moment of being elected, that no part of society feels defeated. The spokesman for the head of state, Martin Strižinec, informed.
"In every free election, part of society rejoices and part is disappointed. It is important that from the moment of being elected, the new president acts in such a way so that no part of society feels defeated. The joy of victory should go hand in hand with the awareness of service to all citizens of Slovakia, not just those who elected him,"
The president has stated.
She wished Pellegrini a successful mandate, which he will assume on June 15th. At the same time, she thanked the citizens who exercised their voting rights. She also expressed gratitude to everyone who contributed to the preparation and successful execution of the elections.
Election day was not without incidents
The police have recorded three reports during the election day. One case was related to a member of the election committee who showed up under the influence of alcohol.
The second incident was reported in the village of Sľažany. The chairwoman of the election committee reported by phone that a 56-year-old member of the election committee was wearing a T-shirt with an inappropriate inscription on its back, which suggested a breach of the election moratorium rules. However, no breach was confirmed.
The town clerk of the Municipal Office Kolárovo announced that in polling station no.6 a 50-year-old member of the election committee voted for someone else who was not present in the polling station. The police in Kolárovo are dealing with this matter as an offence. This event did not disrupt the course of the elections.
Who is Pellegrini?
Pellegrini is among the most popular politicians in the country. He is proud of his flawless image and often addresses his supporters on Facebook. He speaks English, Russian and German. He has Italian ancestors. His surname means pilgrim (pellegrino) or pilgrims (pellegrini) in Italian.
He announced his presidential candidacy in mid-January with the pre-election slogan "Slovakia already needs peace". However, his electoral campaign was criticised by the media as lukewarm, with political scientist Grigorij Mesežnikov stating that he avoided confrontation with his rival Korčok. Pellegrini sought the support of the entire government coalition. However, the situation was complicated by attacks from the leader of SNS Andrej Danko, who criticised Pellegrini for admitting his sexual orientation. The Prime Minister of Slovakia from 2018 to 2020, was a long-term member of Robert Fico's Smer party. Since October last year, he is for the second time the Speaker of Parliament.
Sharp criticism of Pellegrini was also heard at the December demonstrations convened by the opposition, where people under the slogans of protecting the rule of law chanted messages that Pellegrini is a "traitor" or "cheater". They referred to his words from the beginning of October last year, when they were negotiating a new government.
"I will not be a puppet, nor will we be an elevator to power, so that someone can do what they want with the state,"
Pellegrini said then.
