Analysts on PM Heger’s first year: No scandal, no emotion

Analysts on PM Heger’s first year: No scandal, no emotion

On April 1, one year passed since Eduard Heger of the largest governing Ordinary People party became Slovak Prime Minster after swapping posts with Igor Matovič, who is now Finance Minister and remains the Ordinary People party chief. As the SME daily in its analysis wrote, Matovič “was forced to leave the post because of his obsession with controversial grand gestures in fighting coronavirus, such as the mass testing or secret purchase of the unregistered Russian Sputnik V vaccine and conflicts with Economy Minister Richard Sulík.

"Heger has no scandal behind him and therefore is not falling in the polls. However, he does not create any emotion among voters because of his communication, which is why he is not growing. Matovič was able to stir up half of the country for better or worse with one speech," says

political scientist Radoslav Štefančík from the University of Economics. That is why Heger has a higher confidence among voters today than the erratic Matovič. However, even after a year, Heger does not seem to have been able to save the winning party from the elections and return electoral support to the prime minister's party. "Ordinary People must consider changing its leader if it wants to increase its potential. Matovič, however, is a lead weight for the movement that is dragging the party down," says political scientist Jozef Lenč. Other analysts also see potential in Heger, who could bring Ordinary People back to the electorate. "His support depends on the party members, who would have to take risks, as their future political fate is tied to the will of Igor Matovič," Lenč says.

Throughout its first year, Heger’s cabinet faced the corona crisis and the migration crisis after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Moreover, the government is passing some of its reforms, however, in a significantly reduced extent. Heger is not very visible to voters when pushing for reforms or solving specific problems. "He stands out in the background of all four heads of the coalition parties," Štefančík says, adding that people associate the government's successes with specific ministers.

According to an analysis by the SME daily, Ordinary People would be foolish if it did not try to highlight Heger's potential in the coming period by highlighting his position in the movement, experts agree. The party's declining preferences from 25% support in the 2020 elections had fallen to 8% by the summer of 2021, where the decline stopped after Heger's ascension and where they have remained ever since.

However, unlike Matovič, Heger has the potential to appeal to voters of the other parties in the governing coalition. He is trusted by 60% of their voters, compared to only 10% for Matovič.

"An Ordinary People voter would not have a fundamental problem with accepting Heger as an election leader, but neither as a real party leader," consludes Martin Slosiarik of the Focus agency for the SME daily.

Source: SME daily

Mojmir Prochazka, Photo: TASR

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