Lawyer and environmental activist Zuzana Caputova has been inaugurated as Slovakia's first female president. The June 15 ceremony in the capital, Bratislava, came after Caputova's victory in the March 30 presidential runoff. The new president greeted supporters as she walked from the swearing-in ceremony to an ecumenical service at St. Martin's Cathedral. </s> Lawyer and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova was inaugurated Saturday as the first female president of Slovakia

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2019) Lawyer and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova was inaugurated Saturday as the first female president of Slovakia.

The 45-year-old, the country's youngest leader, was sworn in at the Slovak Philarmonic in Bratislava.

The ceremony was attended by her predecessor, Andrej Kiska.

Caputova won the March runoff against her challenger, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, by a 16.8 point margin.

In her inauguration address, Caputova promised to be a president for all and do her best to improve living standards in this Central European country. </s> Anti-corruption campaigner Zuzana Caputova has been sworn in as Slovakia's first female President.

The swearing-in took place before Constitutional Court chair Ivan Fiacan during a ceremonial parliamentary session held in Bratislava on Saturday, Xinhua reported.

Caputova gave her first speech in office, saying she does not want to rule from the office but to serve people and Slovakia. "By taking the constitutional oath, I assume all the commitments and obligations of the public service. I haven't come to rule, I've come to serve citizens, inhabitants, Slovakia," said Caputova, adding that she offers expertise, emotion and a healthy activist interest.

Caputova also claimed allegiance to the pro-European and pro-Atlantic orientation of Slovakia. "As the European Union is our life and value space, the North Atlantic Alliance is our defence and security pillar. As a country, we must do everything we can to maintain and strengthen this space and its pillars," stressed Caputova.

Caputova is the fifth president in the modern Slovak history. She was elected in March. </s> Slovakia could elect its 1st female head of state

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Voters in Slovakia are selecting a new head of state in a runoff that could give the country its first female president.

Zuzana Caputova, an environmental activist, is up against European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in the vote for the largely ceremonial post in the nation of 5.4 million.

Caputova won the first round two week ago with 40.6 percent of the vote while Sefcovic was a distant second with 18.7 percent.

Caputova attracts voters appalled by corruption and mainstream politics. Sefcovic is a career diplomat who is supported by the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, a major force in Slovak politics.

The winner will become the country's fifth head of state since Slovakia gained independence in 1993 after Czechoslovakia split in two.

Incumbent Andrej Kiska did not stand for a second term. </s> Slovakia's President Zuzana Caputova is seen after her swearing-in ceremony as the country's first female head of state, in Bratislava, Slovakia, June 15, 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/RADOVAN STOKLASA)

Help us grow and continue telling Israel’s story to the world.

For $5 a month you will receive access to the following:

As one of our loyal readers, we ask you to be our partner.

Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

Bratislava - Anti-corruption campaigner Zuzana Caputova was sworn in as Slovakia's first female president on Saturday, vowing to fight impunity and champion justice in a country shaken by a journalist's murder last year.

The killing of Jan Kuciak, who investigated high-level graft cases, and his fiancé at their home last February sparked mass street protests and hit the approval ratings of the governing leftist party Smer.

Smer is still the most popular party but Caputova's victory in the March presidential vote boosted the opposition liberal alliance Progressive Slovakia/Together, which backed her and aims to unseat the ruling party in a 2020 general election.

The pro-European coalition already won the EU Parliament election last month.

In her inauguration speech, Caputova, 45, said state officials that had proven incapable of stamping out corruption should lose their jobs and vowed to make the justice system work fairly for everyone.

"Under the constitution, people are free and equal in dignity and in rights, meaning nobody is that irrelevant to have their rights compromised, nor is anyone that powerful to stand above the law."

"Too many people feel that this is not quite the reality in our country. The feeling of injustice has grown and has demonstrated itself in calls for change and decency but also in anger over 'the system'," she said in a nod to the rise to anti-system and far-right parties.

Caputova's election stood in contrast to a European shift towards populist and nationalist parties.

Caputova, whose fight against an illegal landfill in her home town earned her the nickname "Slovakia's Erin Brockovich" after the American environmentalist portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 film, also called on the European Union to become a leader in the battle against climate change.

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

Five people have been charged with the murders of Kuciak and his fiancé Martina Kusnirova, including businessman Marian Kocner, who was investigated by Kuciak and has become a symbol of perceived impunity after more than a decade of rule by Smer. Kocner has denied any wrongdoing.

Now is the time to join the news event of the year - The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference! 

For more information and to sign up, click here>> </s> Pro-European liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova became Slovakia‘s youngest and first female president on Saturday when she formally took office.

“I did not come to rule,” the 45-year-old told a special session of parliament in Bratislava. “I came to serve the citizens.”

Caputova was elected in March as the torch-bearer of a cross-party movement against corruption and abuse of office. She resigned as a member of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party before her inauguration.

Her victory came after months of demonstrations against the February 2018 murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, who was shot dead at his home near Bratislava while working on a story about links between the Slovak government and the Italian Mafia.

Caputova, a single mother of two daughters, has been repeatedly criticized by the church and other conservative groups for her stance on abortion and homosexuals, but said her victory showed that Slovakia is not as conservative as many people believe it is.

Caputova has been praised across party lines for the balance with which she chose the experts who will serve in her team of advisors. Numerous national minorities – including the Roma – and other socially disadvantaged groups will be given a voice in the presidential palace with the appointment of a prominent poverty researcher as presidential advisor. </s> A liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova won Slovakia’s presidential election on Saturday, making her the country’s first female head of state.

The government critic and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova won about 58.3% of the vote. Her opponent European Union energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic who took 41.7%. In the first round of votes two weeks ago, Caputova won with 40.5% and Sefcovic trailed behind her with 18.7%.

Vice-chairwoman of the Progressive Slovakia party, Caputova supports gay marriage and adoption. She has also been dubbed “Slovakia’s Erin Brockovich” after winning a case that wanted to build an illegal landfill in her home town.

Sefcovic congratulated 45-year old Caputova on her win. </s> BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- A liberal environmental activist has been elected as the first female president of Slovakia.Relative newcomer Zuzana Caputova had 58 percent of the vote with almost 95 percent of returns counted in Saturday's runoff election, topping European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, who had 42 percent.Sefcovic conceded defeat and congratulated his rival."I'm extremely happy about the result," Caputova said. "It's an extremely strong mandate for me," she said."Zuzana, Zuzana," her supporters chanted.Caputova, 45, has little experience in politics and attracted voters who are appalled by corruption and mainstream politics.She only recently became vice chairman of Progressive Slovakia, a party so new it has not had a chance to run in parliamentary elections. Caputova resigned from her party post after winning the first round of the presidential vote two weeks ago.She becomes Slovakia's fifth president since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.The president of the nation of 5.4 million people has the power to pick the prime minister, appoint Constitutional Court judges and veto laws. Parliament can override the veto with a simple majority, however. The government, led by the prime minister, possesses most executive powers.A lawyer by profession, Caputova is a rising star of Slovak politics. She became known for leading a successful fight against a toxic waste dump in her hometown of Pezinok, for which she received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2016.A divorced mother of two, she is in favor of gay rights and opposes a ban on abortion in the conservative Roman Catholic country.She was also part of a campaign in 2017 that led to the annulment of pardons granted by former authoritarian Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar.Sefcovic, 52, is a career diplomat who was supported by the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party led by former populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, a major force in Slovak politics that was tarnished by corruption scandals. He campaigned on a traditional family values ticket.Popular incumbent Andrej Kiska, who did not stand for a second term, backed Caputova in the vote.The two had supported the massive anti-government street protests last year triggered by the slayings of an investigative reporter and his fiancee that that led to the fall of Fico's coalition government. Investigators have linked Jan Kuciak's death to his work probing possible widespread government corruption.Fico's party has already suffered losses in local elections in November - the first votes since the largest demonstrations in the country since the anti-Communist Velvet Revolution of 1989. </s> Slovak environmental activist Zuzana Caputova took a step closer to becoming her country’s first female president after winning the first round of nationwide elections, signaling a potential sea change for a country that has fallen victim to rampant corruption since it was established in 1993.

Among the 13 candidates vying for the presidency, Caputova secured 40.56 percent of the vote on Saturday, with more than 99 percent of all districts reporting.

She beat Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice president backed by the ruling centre-left Direction-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party, which took the second place with 18.66 percent of the vote.

The two leaders will now compete in a runoff election scheduled for March 30.

The result follows an impressive campaign from Caputova, a lawyer with no public office experience who for years fought to clean up a toxic landfill.

Since she announced her candidacy a year ago, she has staged a meteoric rise in the polls as the anti-corruption candidate standing up to a government that has become increasingly unpopular since the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak last year.

“I see a strong call for change in this election following the tragic events last spring,” Caputova told reporters as she cast vote in her home town Pezinok. “We stand on a crossroads between the loss and renewal of public trust.”

With a population of just 5.54 million and half of all eligible voters casting their ballot in the election, it became impossible for any one candidate to win outright in the first round.

Slovakia’s election rules mandate a candidate take at least 50 percent of all eligible votes, not only among those who participated.

Caputova’s resounding first-round victory poses a potential threat to the current political establishment under Smer-SD, experts believe.

Though the party is pro-EU, it has used a populist platform to strengthen political support, taking a strong stand against migration and EU decision-makers in Brussels.

“The mood in Slovakia fundamentally changed following the murders of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova 13 months ago,” said Rick Zednik, an American-Slovak who established the English-language newspaper ‘Slovak Spectator’ in 1995.

Found shot dead at his home near Bratislava last February, Kuciak at the time was investigating an alleged connection between Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate and high-ranking officials in the Slovak government.

The high-profile murders of Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, months before their wedding, sparked the largest nationwide protests in Slovakia since the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Weeks later, the then Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned from his post, but remained the head of his party.

“Caputova stepped into this context as a political outsider. That, along with her achievements as a public defender, made her a credible alternative to the political establishment,” Zednik told Al Jazeera, adding that her ascension could be an important factor in the run-up to the next parliamentary election in 2020.

Earlier this week, Slovak prosecutors formally charged a controversial businessman with alleged ties to the mafia with the murders of the 27-year-old Kuciak and Kusnirova.

While the role of the president in Slovakia is symbolic in many respects, it wields a limited but important role in policy, with veto power over any bill passed by the National Council.

The president can also shape the country’s currently vulnerable judicial system, with the ability to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court as well as the judicial council.

“We only have four judges [serving in the Constitutional Court] and we need nine more elected, and Slovakia is waiting for a new president to choose those judges,” said Martin Poliacik, a member of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, of which Caputova is deputy chairman.

He hopes that her success could lead to further backlash against the tide of populism that has swept much of Europe in recent years.

“I think the outcome of these elections will show us how much Slovakia is crying for a change, and not only internally, but for regional civilisation,” he said.

“She would give hope to those other countries as well.”
Slovakia inaugurates Zuzana Čaputová as its first female elected President.