Exit polls: Zuzana Caputova poised to become Slovakia’s first female president

According to exit polls released by national television on Saturday evening, liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova is set to become Slovakia’s…

According to exit polls released by national television on Saturday evening, liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova is set to become Slovakia’s first female president.
Exit polls showed the anti-corruption campaigner had a 20 point lead over her opponent, European Union Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, Euronews reports.

Caputova’s victory could turn the tide in the rise in Europe’s populist leaders.

Partial results will be released overnight, while final results will be published on Sunday morning.

Anti-corruption in focus

Caputova’s campaign to rule-out corruption in a country, which she says is run “by people pulling strings from behind”, has proved vastly popular.

She also has the backing of a protest movement which has called for justice and fairness in the wake of the killing of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee in 2018. Kuciak was investigating fraud cases that involved politically connected businessmen.

Sefcovic had more experience in politics than his rival and the backing of the populist ruling party, SMER.

Courting voters who backed anti-immigration candidates in the first round of the election, Sefcovic has said he rejects the vision of an EU “where the distribution of migrants would be decided by someone other than Slovakia”.

In the first round of votes two weeks ago, Caputova won with 40.5% and Sefcovic trailed behind her with 18.7%.

As vice-chairwoman of the Progressive Slovakia party, which has no seats in parliament, Caputova supports gay marriage and adoption.

She has also campaigned on a platform to fight nationalism and supports EU integration.

At one polling station in the capital, voter Zuzana Behrikova said she had been convinced by Caputova’s activist background.

“She knows what it is like to face injustice and she has always had the back of those who fought against the oligarchs,” Behrikova said.

Slovakia’s president wields little day-to-day power but appoints prime ministers and can veto appointments of senior prosecutors and judges.