Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Kálmán Petőcz: National Populism and Electoral Behaviour
Kálmán Petőcz the Štúrovo constituency where SMER-SD received less than 30% of the popular vote among non-Hungarian voters. Similar conclusions go for election results posted by the ĽS-HZDS led by Vladimír Mečiar. His movement’s success rate among Slovak voters in particular districts of southern Slovakia did not essentially differ from its election results on the national level (8.79%). A conclusion may be drawn that the ĽSHZDS was relatively more successful in the west than in the east. In the more backward regions of Novohrad, Gemer and East Slovakia, a substantial share of former ĽS-HZDS voters cast their ballots for SMER-SD, swayed most probably by its leaders’ strong social rhetoric. Interesting in this respect was the Rimavská Sobota district where former ĽS-HZDS voters defected in significant numbers to SMER-SD as well as SNS camps. A potential factor here may have been a strong Romany community in this region. Table 5 compares election results of Ivan Gašparovič in the 2009 presidential elections to those posted by the bloc of SMER - SNS - HZDS in the 2006 parliamentary elections in ethnically mixed districts of southern Slovakia. Table 5 Election results of Ivan Gašparovič in the 2009 presidential elections compared to election results of the SMER - SNS - HZDS bloc in the 2006 parliamentary elections in southern Slovakia (%) District Presidential elections 2009Parliamentary elections 2006 TotalSlovak voters Total Slovak voters Senec 33.87 42.3 33.21 41.7-43. 7 Dunajská Streda 5.01 31.3 5.58 33.4-40.8 Galanta 34.92 57.3 31.37 51.1-57.7 Šaľa 30.85 56.1 29.90 46.5-54.2 Komárno 12.94 43.1 12.43 40.2-52.1 Nové Zámky (constituency) 46.56 65.6 42.87 59.3-65.0 Nitra 61.12 65.7 55.57 59.6-60.5 Štúrovo (constituency) 8.17 43.9 7.16 33.9-48.5 Levice 42.37 64.2 38.23 53.0-57.0 Veľký Krtíš 48.31 74.3 40.74 56.1-62.1 Lučenec 47.91 69.4 41.29 56.9-59.9 Rimavská Sobota 42.3 62.2 34.93 59.5-59.1 Revúca 56.83 77.9 48.96 62.8-66.5 Rožňava 40.89 66.0 38.56 55.6-62.0 Košice area 48.97 62.0 40.68 46.8-51.3 Trebišov 48.81 69.7 38.87 55.0-54.9 Michalovce 62.44 73.5 53.00 60.0-62.1 Slovakia total 55.53 61.5 49.66 55.0-56.3 Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic: author's own calculations. 116
