Meciar scores upset in Slovak presidential vote

Vladimir Meciar, who made Slovakia a diplomatic pariah in the 1990s, scored a shock first round win in presidential elections this weekend, setting up the prospect of government paralysis as the country joins the EU.

Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan, the candidate most closely tied to the government of reformist Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, was eliminated from the second round run-off leaving Mr Meciar with a strong chance to beat former ally Ivan Gasparovic.

The 61-year-old Meciar's stunning political comeback is a crushing embarrassment for his successor, Mr Dzurinda, who will lead the ex-Communist state into the EU on May 1 after six years of trying to erase Mr Meciar's anti-EU legacy.

In a turn of events likely to weaken the crown currency because the president will have a veto over legislation including much-needed reforms aimed at aligning Slovakia with the EU, Mr Meciar won 32.7 per cent of the vote.

"This result is absolutely shocking... and it will definitely complicate the whole country's situation, especially for the government," said Grigory Meseznikov, head of the independent IVO think-tank.

Official results gave 22.3 per cent to Mr Gasparovic, just 0.2 points ahead of Mr Kukan who had led opinion polls before the vote. The two leading candidates go to a run-off on April 17, and analysts said Mr Meciar had a strong chance for victory.

"It's only half-time, and you don't celebrate at halftime. The elections will continue," a visibly happy Meciar said yesterday in a televised debate after results were known.

After condemning Meciar for much of the last decade for ignoring human rights and backsliding on democracy, western states and the EU are unlikely to throw open their doors to welcome him if he wins in the second round, even though he says experience has made him a "changed man".

The one-time amateur boxer says he now supports joining the EU, a bloc he once painted as a bullying imperialist force meddling in the affairs of his small country.

"His rhetoric has changed, but he still has the same authoritarian style of governing," Mr Meseznikov said.

The president holds mostly token powers in the country of 5.4 million people. But the post also has a powerful veto, which in Meciar's hands could cripple Dzurinda's coalition, now struggling to finish an overhaul of welfare, education, healthcare and other sectors without a majority in parliament.

During the campaign Mr Meciar railed against government reforms which were needed to prepare for EU accession but which have hit many Slovaks hard, especially in the poorer rural regions of the country where he has always found his staunchest support.

"There has to be an effective program so that the effects of reforms do not hit the socially weak," he said after the vote.

"It's a basic question which we are beginning to discuss. We will find solutions, common stances, and agreements," he said in the televised debate.