# 2006 Slovak parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006. Direction – Social Democracy emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 50 of the 150 seats. Its leader Robert Fico was appointed Prime Minister on 4 July 2006, leading a three-party centre-left populist coalition.

## Background

Originally the election was planned for 16 September 2006. However, on 8 February the government proposed calling an early election after the Christian Democratic Movement left the coalition government. This proposal was passed by the Parliament on 9 February and signed by the President on 13 February. For the first time Slovak citizens living abroad could vote, using absentee ballots. A total of 21 parties contested the elections.

## Participating parties

| Party | Ideology | Political position | Leader |
| Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) | Social democracy | Centre-left | Robert Fico |
| Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ–DS) | Liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Mikuláš Dzurinda |
| Slovak National Party (SNS) | National conservatism | Far-right | Ján Slota |
| Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK/MKP) | Hungarian minority interests | Centre-right | Béla Bugár |
| People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS–HZDS) | Slovak nationalism | Syncretic | Vladimír Mečiar |
| Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) | Christian democracy | Centre-right | Pavol Hrušovský |

## Results

| | Direction – Social Democracy | 671,185 | 29.14 | +15.68 | 50 | +25 |
| | Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party | 422,815 | 18.36 | +3.26 | 31 | +3 |
| | Slovak National Party | 270,230 | 11.73 | +8.41 | 20 | +20 |
| | Party of the Hungarian Coalition | 269,111 | 11.68 | +0.52 | 20 | 0 |
| | People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia | 202,540 | 8.79 | –10.71 | 15 | –21 |
| | Christian Democratic Movement | 191,443 | 8.31 | +0.06 | 14 | –1 |
| | Communist Party of Slovakia | 89,418 | 3.88 | –2.44 | 0 | –11 |
| | Free Forum | 79,963 | 3.47 | New | 0 | New |
| | Alliance of the New Citizen | 32,775 | 1.42 | –6.59 | 0 | –15 |
| | Movement for Democracy | 14,728 | 0.64 | –2.64 | 0 | 0 |
| | Hope | 14,595 | 0.63 | New | 0 | New |
| | Left Bloc | 9,174 | 0.40 | +0.17 | 0 | 0 |
| | Union of the Workers of Slovakia | 6,864 | 0.30 | –0.25 | 0 | 0 |
| | Civic Conservative Party | 6,262 | 0.27 | –0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| | Slovak National Coalition–Slovak Reciprocity | 4,016 | 0.17 | New | 0 | New |
| | Slovak People's Party | 3,815 | 0.17 | New | 0 | New |
| | Agrarian and Countryside Party | 3,160 | 0.14 | New | 0 | New |
| | Prosperity of Slovakia | 3,118 | 0.14 | New | 0 | New |
| | Party of the Democratic Left | 2,906 | 0.13 | New | 0 | New |
| | Mission 21–New Christian Democracy | 2,523 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New |
| | Party of Civic Solidarity | 2,498 | 0.11 | New | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 2,303,139 | 100.00 | – | 150 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,303,139 | 98.60 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 32,778 | 1.40 | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,335,917 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 4,272,517 | 54.67 | | | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, European Elections Database |||||||

### Results by region

| Region | Smer-SD | SDKÚ-DS | SNS | SMK/MKP | ĽS-HZDS | KDH | KSS | SF | ÁNO | Other parties |
| Bratislava Region | 21.42 | 36.05 | 8.80 | 6.12 | 6.75 | 7.87 | 2.96 | 5.77 | 1.38 | 2.94 |
| Trnava Region | 23.26 | 15.93 | 7.83 | 29.00 | 7.46 | 7.39 | 3.03 | 2.58 | 0.98 | 2.60 |
| Trenčín Region | 33.98 | 15.03 | 15.90 | 0.34 | 14.29 | 7.93 | 4.74 | 3.34 | 1.20 | 3.23 |
| Nitra Region | 24.82 | 12.30 | 9.32 | 31.67 | 7.98 | 5.41 | 2.90 | 2.19 | 1.07 | 2.31 |
| Žilina Region | 33.01 | 14.78 | 18.83 | 0.27 | 10.80 | 10.91 | 4.01 | 3.37 | 1.37 | 2.65 |
| Banská Bystrica Region | 31.08 | 15.74 | 13.37 | 12.49 | 8.05 | 5.07 | 5.12 | 3.31 | 1.62 | 4.17 |
| Prešov Region | 35.44 | 17.93 | 10.73 | 0.34 | 8.40 | 13.97 | 4.26 | 3.27 | 1.59 | 4.21 |
| Košice Region | 29.48 | 19.20 | 8.63 | 14.27 | 6.70 | 7.73 | 4.00 | 3.87 | 2.07 | 3.99 |
| Total in Slovakia | 29.14 | 18.36 | 11.73 | 11.68 | 8.79 | 8.31 | 3.88 | 3.47 | 1.42 | 3.62 |
| Cities | 28.81 | 24.13 | 11.09 | 7.92 | 7.56 | 7.53 | 3.83 | 4.49 | 1.64 | 2.96 |
| Villages | 29.54 | 11.22 | 12.51 | 16.32 | 10.31 | 9.26 | 3.94 | 2.20 | 1.15 | 3.49 |

## Aftermath

On 28 June, Fico announced that the government coalition would consist of his Smer-SD, together with the SNS and ĽS-HZDS. The Party of European Socialists (PES) criticized this decision because of nationalist statements of the leader of the SNS and subsequently suspended Smer-SD's membership.