Former leader set for victory in elections overshadowed by scandal

Описание: (9 Mar 2012)
1. Zoom in to mid of Robert Fico, Chairman of Slovakia's SMER (Social Democracy) Party, taking stage
2. Close of crowd
3. Wide of Fico on stage
4. SOUNDBITE (Slovakian) Robert Fico, Chairman of Slovakia's SMER (Social Democracy) Party:
"Our message to them (the opposition) is that if we get enough votes on Saturday, we will take responsibility into our hands, we will fulfil our government's programme and we start on building a standard European welfare state."
5. Close of cameraman in crowd
6. Wide of Fico on stage with other members of his party
7. Wide of crowd
8. Mid of Fico in news conference
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Fico, Chairman of Slovakia's SMER (Social Democracy) Party:
"Europe, European Union, can rely on SMER Social Democracy. I can confirm at this moment that SMER Social Democracy will also support permanent financial mechanisms to really support Europe. We believe in Europe and we believe in the European Union so it will be in any case a pro-European government."
10. Close of journalist typing
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Fico, Chairman of Slovakia's SMER (Social Democracy) Party:
"In the case that SMER we have a majority, we will take this majority, we will form government and we will fulfil our own governmental programme."
12. Close of camera
13. Mid of Fico walking out of news conference
STORYLINE:
On the eve of Saturday's general elections in Slovakia, the country's politicians are mired in a bribery scandal.
Secret wiretaps, said to prove that a wide range of Slovakian politicians took backhanders from an influential private investment group, have shocked the already-raucous world of Slovak politics ahead of elections on Saturday.
The "Gorilla" files, mysteriously posted online by an anonymous source in December, implicate politicians who they claim have been accepting money for up to two years.
The files are recordings of clandestine meetings which took place in an apartment where a secret agent, intrigued by the frequent visits by high-ranking officials, reportedly planted a listening device in the wall.
The fallout looks certain to propel populist former leader Robert Fico back into power, even though he himself has been implicated.
Fico, the Chairman of Slovakia's Social Democracy Party, or SMER, was on the election campaign trail on Thursday.
He didn't mention the audio files.
Known for tirades against journalists, and viewed with mistrust in neighbouring Hungary, Fico is expected to win enough votes to gain an outright parliamentary majority or at worst to lead a coalition.
"SMER-Social Democracy will support permanent financial mechanisms to really support Europe, we believe in Europe, and we believe in the European Union so it will be in any case a pro-European government," said Fico at a news conference on Thursday.
Earlier, during an election rally he said, "if we get enough votes on Saturday we will take responsibility into our hands, we will fulfil our government's programme and we start on building a standard European welfare state."
Fico is against further privatisation of state assets and opposes austerity measures, such as a value added tax increase.
The secretly recorded audio files purportedly document shady dealings between 2005 and 2006, and suggests investment group Penta bribed government and opposition politicians to win lucrative privatisation deals.
Politicians from almost all major parties have been tainted by the scandal.
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union, whose free-market reforms earned the country NATO and EU membership, looks likely to be hit hardest.

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