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| Exit poll: Ruling party leads Slovakia election | Exit poll: Ruling party leads Slovakia election |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The leftist ruling party is leading in the parliamentary election in Slovakia on Saturday, but will need coalition partners to form a majority government, an exit poll indicated. | |
| The poll showed the Smer-Social Democracy of Prime Minister Robert Fico, which campaigned on an anti-migrant ticket, receiving 27.3 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election and winning 45 seats in the 150-member parliament. | The poll showed the Smer-Social Democracy of Prime Minister Robert Fico, which campaigned on an anti-migrant ticket, receiving 27.3 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election and winning 45 seats in the 150-member parliament. |
| That represented a drop in support from the 2012 election when Smer took 44.4 percent and was able to govern alone. | |
| A high number of nine parties, including one representing ethnic Hungarians and another led by a neo-Nazi leader, were projected to win parliamentary seats. | A high number of nine parties, including one representing ethnic Hungarians and another led by a neo-Nazi leader, were projected to win parliamentary seats. |
| If the results are confirmed, tough negotiations can be expected in forming new government at a time Slovakia is getting ready to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2016. | |
| Analysts say Fico may have misjudged the public mood by focusing too much on Europe’s migration crisis and not enough on Slovakia’s own issues. | Analysts say Fico may have misjudged the public mood by focusing too much on Europe’s migration crisis and not enough on Slovakia’s own issues. |
| Fico favors a strong state role in the economy, has been critical of Western sanctions against Russia and is known for strong anti-Muslim rhetoric. Slovakia has not been part of the European route that hundreds of thousands of refugees are using — but Fico has still made it the central tenet of his campaign. | |
| He is a vocal opponent of a compulsory EU plan to redistribute refugees in member states and is suing the EU over it. | |
| Fico claims there is a link between the waves of refugees, the deadly Islamic extremist attacks in Paris and the New Year’s Eve sexual assaults in Germany. He said the attacks prove the migrants cannot be integrated. | |
| But a recent teachers strike over low pay, nurses quitting hospitals en masse and corruption scandals in the health care system have overshadowed the migrant crisis in the country. | |
| Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |