Region: Fico's first year in office

By Beata Balogová

From The Slovak Spectator

One year after his left-leaning party Smer secured a landslide election victory, Prime Minister Robert Fico described the current situation of his government as the most difficult period in his political life.

Slovakia's unemployment rate reached almost 15 percent in January, its highest level since 2004. Nevertheless, Fico insists his government is stable, enjoys widespread support from the public and is free of scandals.

Opposition parties argue that instead of the economic security and jobs Fico had promised, the public mood is souring due to high jobless rates. Pundits also point to a "worsening atmosphere" in society.

Instead of the "certainties" and jobs Fico had promised voters during the 2012 election campaign, the country is enduring record unemployment, while promises of higher taxes for the rich have changed into higher taxes for all, Ján Figeľ, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Movement told the SITA newswire.

Fico has said he stands behind his government's steps to consolidate public finances by hiking taxes for high income earners.

"God save this country from having a mash-up [a reference to the four-party center-right coalition that formed the previous government]," Fico said March 8, adding he could not imagine how such a coalition would have made the decisions that "we have taken on our shoulders and are vital for Slovakia."

"There are only two alternatives: We either walk the path of higher taxes for the rich and strong, or the way of hiking [value-added tax], which will be paid by the people and reflected by massive price hikes, which we reject," he added.

Political scientist Miroslav Kusý sees the climate in society as having worsened since the parliamentary elections. "It is a natural result of the economic crisis, but also the attitude of the government, which continues especially in the sphere of economics in a way that increases unemployment and creates social insecurity," Kusý told The Slovak Spectator.

Fico insisted that if his government has made any mistakes, it is ready to make corrections, "but someone has to prove it."

The government attributes the high unemployment rate to the eurozone's slowing economy, while the opposition blames the government for measures it says have negatively affected the flexibility of the labor market.

Though Fico rejects this claim, the unemployment issue appears to be denting his public approval ratings. A recent poll conducted by the Focus poling agency suggested the Smer party would have collected 34.6 percent of the vote if a general election had taken place in the first half of February, compared with the 44.4 percent Smer won in March 2012, which represents a considerable drop in support.

"What is rather dramatic is that it seems it is a trend, and it might continue," sociologist Ján Baránek said.

Focus attributed Smer's decline in approval ratings to a mixture of what it calls the exaggerated expectations of Smer voters and Slovakia's current economic situation. "With its exaggerated emphasis on social certainties, Smer has provoked unrealistic expectations from its voters," said Focus analyst Martin Slosiarik, adding these expectations include lower unemployment, improvement or preservation of the standard of living and a lower or unchanging payroll tax burden.

Surveys show Smer is losing out among typical supporters of social-democratic parties, like blue collar voters with lower economic status, as well as younger to midgeneration voters with higher education and better income. Smer has so far failed to address the issue of unemployment among young people, Slosiarik said. Pensioners remain the most loyal supporters because unemployment impacts them the least, he added.

In last year's election victory, Fico had crushed the center-right parties, weakened by internal divisions and political scandals during their two years in office. As head of Smer, Fico had also led a coalition government in 2006-10. When asked about the differences between Fico's previous time as prime minister and the present, Kusý said Fico's current position is significantly more difficult.

"Back then, he entered power in a time of plenty. He had resources to draw and distribute," Kusý said. "Now the second government is in a period of very significant economic crisis and of course has a much narrower space in which to maneuver, primarily in the economic field."

- Radka Minarechová and Zuzana Vilikovská contributed to this report.

Beata Balogová can be reached at news@praguepost.com