Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Grigorij Mesežnikov: National Populism in Slovakia - Defining the Character of the State and Interpreting Select Historic Events
National Populism in Slovakia... The attitude to power execution all ruling parties shared between 1994 and 1998 largely stemmed from their preferred model of governance; this understanding became the main driving force behind serious democratic deficits that eventually dashed the country’s integration ambitions, led to society’s political polarization and strengthened confrontation between principal political forces. These deficits motivated democratically-oriented citizens to increase their participation in the 1998 parliamentary elections. High voter mobilization contributed to changing the political landscape and forming a ruling coalition that comprised non-populist, non-nationalist and prodemocratic parties. For almost eight years that followed (i.e. 1998-2006), national populism parties were banned from the executive. The key factor that laid the ground for national populists’ mutual cooperation after the 2006 elections was that in terms of preferred governance model and political regime, all three parties of the incumbent ruling coalition - SMER-SD, SNS and HZDS - may be described as etatist parties, although etatism in their activities shows to a different degree and is differently accentuated. SMER-SD openly subscribes to etatism as the foundation of its political profile and advocates government’s strong role in a number of areas; etatist paternalism of SMER-SD was fully exposed in a symptomatic statement by its chairman Robert Fico who said at the beginning of 2008 that government should be “the father of all citizens”, just like the church is the “mother for believers”.17 The SNS considers an independent Slovak state to be the greatest social value and embodiment of long-term emancipation ambitions of the Slovak nation. The HZDS also emphasizes the importance of independent Slovak statehood; besides, it claims special credit for direct participation in the process of establishing it in 1993. All ruling parties’ positions on the character of the state are affected by ethnic and nationalist approach (i.e. obvious preference of the national principle over the civic one) as well as tendencies to mythologize history, the appropriation syndrome and negligence of issues related to the type of regime, quality of democracy, liberal-democratic foundation of Slovakia’s constitutional system and importance of abiding by the principles of constitutional liberalism. Some measures the SNS proposed to ensure proper performance of government’s functions directly contradicted basic principles of liberal democracy, for instance repeated proposals to pass a repressive bill on the protection of the republic or to outlaw the party that politically represents the country’s ethnic Hungarians. Clear inclination to the concept of national state that is based on the nation’s ethnic definition may be demonstrated by peculiar notions about the Slovaks’ specific historic role that are 49
