Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Kálmán Petőcz: National Populism and Electoral Behaviour
Kálmán Petőcz Graph 1 Accepting the idea of full equality of persons belonging to national minorities by supporters of relevant political parties in Slovakia SNS KSS HZDS SMER KDH SF SDKÚ SMK 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% ■ Endorsement of A □ Ambiguous views □ Endorsement of B Statement A: “The Slovak Republic is a state of members of the Slovak nation and therefore the Slovaks ought to enjoy a decisive say in it. ” Statement B: “The Slovak Republic is a state of all citizens who inhabit it and therefore it must guarantee equal rights to all, regardless of nationality. ” Source: Institute for Public Affairs, 2006; Bútorová - Gyárfášová (2006, p. 123). Graph 1 plainly shows that in terms of perceiving the status and rights of national minorities, which is in the country’s political discourse inherently related to the issue of protecting its national and state interests, the current division of political forces in Slovakia is in fact quite logical. The opinion that the Slovak Republic is exclusively a state of the Slovaks was shared by two in three SNS, HZDS (and KSS) voters. This view was somewhat less popular among supporters of SMER-SD (53%); on the other hand, the share of respondents with unambiguous views of the issue was relatively high in this category. Besides, only one in four (25%) SMER-SD sympathizers unambiguously endorsed the assertion that the Slovak Republic is a state of all citizens who inhabit it, which was only 4% more than among SNS supporters. SDKU sympathizers clearly stand out of the overall picture as nearly half of them believe that the Slovak Republic is a state of all citizens who inhabit it. The division line illustrated by Graph 1 is significant not only in terms of national but also regional and municipal politics as it provides for important conclusions to tackle the issue of coexistence between Slovaks and 102
