The presidential elections in Slovakia are to take place on 15 March. This will be the fourth time that Slovak citizens will choose their president via a secret ballot in a direct election. It is a two-round voting system. The winner might emerge also in the 1st round if there is a candidate that receives more than 50% of legitimate votes; otherwise, two weeks’ after the 1st round, a 2nd round will take place, where the two most successful candidates will meet. The one who gets the most votes in this round will reside in the Presidential palace for the next five years. There are 14 presidential candidates and here at RSI we introduce all of them, in alphabetical order.
Procházka Radoslav
A solicitor and university lecturer. A member of parliament, and vice president of the Constitutional Law committee, as an expert on questions of constitution, civil and administrative law. He comes from the capital Bratislava. He studied at the Comenius University in Bratislava, before gaining the title Doctor of Law at the Yale Law School, in the US in 2001. In addition to his lecturing, he has been dedicated to the protection of human rights, and worked as a lawyer in Prague for a large American law firm, as an advisor to the Constitutional court of Slovakia, as a legal advisor to the European Commission. He entered parliament as a member of the Christian Democratic Union (KDH), which he then left in February 2013. Radoslav Procházka is a civil candidate for the post of President of the Slovak Republic.
Šimko Jozef
A regional politician, and member of the Regional Prosecutors Office. Has had a career as an officer in the police force, in which he became Chief of the Criminal investigation unit. Graduating from the police academy, he attained the title of Doctor of Justice (JUDr). Also on his CV belongs a stint in the tourism industry. The now 63 year old lawyer comes from the region in Slovakia with the highest unemployment. He claims to be a politician with a strong sense of social conscience, and wants to become a President of the people. Jozef Šimko has been Major of the Rimavska Sobota district since 2010. He stands as a Presidential candidate under the Party for a Modern Slovakia.
