The President of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, has approached the country’s Constitutional Court to strike down a law extending the ban on the publication of pre-election opinion polls from 14 to 50 days before an election.
How Did We Get Here?
On the 28th of October, the Slovak parliament passed a new law prohibiting the publication of surveys and opinion polls of voters’ intentions up to 50 days before an election. The bill was backed by the ruling party in Slovakia, Smer, one of its coalition partners, the Slovak National Party (SNS) and the far-right People’s Party– Our Slovakia. The authors of the bill said the aim is to protect voters from disinformation so their decisions will be based on parties’ manifestos.
Detractors of the bill, including the President, said it violates constitutional rights. Martin Slosiarik, Director of the Focus Polling Agency, told the Slovak Spectator: “This is a non-democratic measure and it takes away the right for information from voters that could be important for them to make decisions.” Likewise, President Čaputová vetoedthe bill citing that it violates the right to information. The parliament, however, defied her veto leading the President to bring the matter to the Constitutional Court.
The introduction of the new law comes ahead of the parliamentary election set to hold on the 29th of February, 2020, leaving some suspicious of the motive behind it. The Smer party has seen a dip in support since the murder of an investigative journalist and his fiancée sparked mass protest and led to the resignation of Smer leader and Prime Minister at the time, Robert Fico.
Critics say the law is an attempt to sideline newcomers who could benefit from late shifts in support. As a political newcomer, President Čaputová benefited from a late surge in support earlier in the year when she defeated Smer’s candidate to win the presidential seat, Reutersnotes.
What Now?
If the court does not put a ban on the implementation of the law, the ban will take effect on January 10th 2020, with respect to the February election.
However, observers have now pointed out a loophole in the law where it does not ban parties from commissioning their own opinion polls, as long as they do not publish it in Slovakia. This means that foreign media can publish the polls and Slovak voters can still have access to those polls, especially if released in neighbouring Czech media.
