Progressive Slovakia candidate Simeck acknowledges exit polls point to tight finish in elections

Описание: (1 Oct 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

++PLEASE IGNORE SCRIPT SENT EARLIER AND REPLACE WITH FOLLOWING, WHICH INCLUDES LATEST PRELIMINARY RESULTS++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bratislava - 1 October 2023
1. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Michal Simecka, leader of liberal Progressive Slovakia party
"First of all, I want to thank you for sticking with us so far. I want to say that I'm sorry we don't have a clearer picture at this point about what the election results will be, about what the will is of our voters. I don't even expect to find out in the next few minutes or hours. What we see with the gradual counting of votes is that Progressive Slovakia is gradually growing, but in this case it is very difficult to predict what number it will end up at."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
A populist former prime minister who campaigned on a pro-Russian and anti-American message looked to be heading for victory in early parliamentary elections in Slovakia, according to preliminary results early Sunday.

With results from almost 88% of about 6,000 polling stations counted by the Slovak Statistics Office, former prime minister Robert Fico and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party led with 23.7 % of the vote.

A liberal, pro-West newcomer, the Progressive Slovakia party, was a distant second with 15.6% of the votes cast Saturday.

The left-wing Hlas (Voice) party, led by Fico’s former deputy in Smer, Peter Pellegrini, was in third with 15.4%.

Sooner after polls closed, Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka thanked his party's supporters but said a "clearer picture" had yet to emerge.

With no party likely to win a majority of seats, a coalition government would need to be formed.

Fico, 59, vowed to withdraw Slovakia’s military support for Ukraine in Russia’s war if his attempt to return to power succeeded.

Michal Simecka, a 39-year-old member of the European Parliament, campaigned promising to continue the support for Kyiv.

===========================================================

Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected].

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...