The author is a member of parliament, a member of the presidium of the Democrats party
At the outset, I admit that I am biased. For two reasons. The first one is clear, I am running for parliament for the Democrats. The second – while I like Matúš Kostolný as an author and a person, I don’t like Robert Fico because I think he is destroying our country. I really wish, and I’m also desperately trying to do so politically, so that Fico is not in power. I agree with Matúš on that.
Nevertheless, I think that Matúš is wrong in his text to overestimate the moral and symbolic value of the potential victory of Progressive Slovakia. The picture it offers is not clear and clean, rather blurred, more a wish than a realistic estimate.
The victory of Progressive Slovakia is certainly a symbolic thing. The framing of the campaign against each other – Fico against Šimeček – seems to repeat the match from the presidential elections, whether it was Fico against Kisk or Šefčovič against Čaputová. And thus offer voters a black-white dichotomy. I choose because I have to choose between two. It is tempting to say that such a notion gives the impression that the choice between black and white is more than the content of black or white itself, since only one color (side) can be chosen.
But no, it’s not, because this is not a presidential election. That’s my first comment. The difference from presidential elections is not only that the presidential function is diametrically opposed to the parliament and the government, but also because we expect something completely different from the president than from the parliament and the government. The complexity of the offer should be, and therefore is, logically, different.
The second and more important objection, which Matúš himself mentions, but in my opinion he neglects its depth, is that we already have experience with the fact that the winner of the election does not form a government. It was Vladimír Mečiar in 1998, it was Robert Fico in 2010. Both won the elections, but they did not form a government because they had no one to form it with. Sometimes winning just isn’t enough! In this, the very image of a percentage victory over Fico is deceptive, because it is not enough. The real victory is the ability to form a government. That’s a real defeat for Fico.
If Progresívne Slovakia also wins the elections by percentage, this does not say anything about the possibility of forming a government. So that there is no mistake, I wish them to be able to compile it. If for no other reason, then because Tomáš Valášek is my friend and a guy who would guarantee our foreign policy orientation like few others in this country.
I understand that when it comes to forming a government, some resort to the fact that it would theoretically be possible with Hlas. Maybe even more so if PS won. However, I do not understand the naivety of this argument, because it contradicts the deep experience we have with Peter Pellegrini. Peter Pellegrini whenever he could, literally always, helped Roberto Fico. Whenever it was necessary to show that he could be free, he showed himself as Fic’s slave. Most recently, during talks about a coup d’état and the NAKA investigation, where he talked about election manipulation. Let’s remember his stances on attacks on investigators, the Special Prosecutor’s Office, judges, the “extradition” of Robert Fico for custodial prosecution, or something as simple as the defense contract, or his stance on the war in Ukraine. Pellegrini is not a hope for a good government. And even if I admit that he would be, what about Žiga, Rashi and their wing in Hlas?
Speaking of which, let’s talk about Peter Pellegrini. Fico is not interested in being prime minister. He knows how to learn and not only Orbán, but also Kaczyński is his inspiration. I can therefore imagine a scenario where he entrusts the premiership to Peter Pellegrini himself and also skillfully trades it for the presidential election or whatever suits him. Fico is concerned with impunity, that is the highest goal. He knows that his real victory would be if he had a majority. The first is the majority in the parliament, the second is the majority within the parliamentary majority, i.e. the coalition, and the third is the majority in the government. Of course, let’s not be afraid of scenarios with a constitutional majority.
I know, some readers will say that I just want percentages for Democrats, and that’s why I’m writing this text. No, it should not be an agitation, people will decide freely. The bottom line, in my opinion, lies in the question of what is a real and not a symbolic victory. I am sure we all know that it is a majority made up of authentically democratic parties. Parties that will be able to rule without kleptocracy and neo-fascist or neo-communist ideology. That is what really has the only value, we must devote all our attention and energy to it. Because that is the answer to the question of what is real victory. And actually, I ask, the only victory for Slovakia. We still have five weeks.