Yesterday, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova informed media she would not run again in 2024 because she would not have the strength.
In 2019, Caputova was directly elected president and will serve until mid-June 2024. She was new to top politics.
Public opinion polls show that Slovakia’s most popular politician, Caputova, is declining.
Before making this decision, I estimated my strength for the following six years. “After very honest consideration, today I know that those forces would not be enough for another term,” Caputova remarked one day before her 50th birthday.
She also considered her family’s wishes.
She and her family received death threats in May after lawmakers verbally abused her.
Slovakia’s first female president is Caputova. She is pro-European, pro-Ukraine, and pro-law.
As president, she has avoided direct confrontations with her adversaries and has often said that decency is not weakness.
“Please do not take my decision not to run as proof that one cannot succeed with decency. “Decency can win elections, hold office, and make you the most trusted politician,” Caputova added.
She stated Slovakia does not depend on one person, that smart, sensitive, and energetic individuals have ran in previous elections and should participate in the next presidential election. She did not say if she will continue in politics following her presidency.
She ran for the extra-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia movement, which is polling second in the country according to the latest Ipsos electoral model, in 2019.
Slovakia’s top political parties are focused on the 30 September early elections rather than announcing presidential candidates. Former foreign minister Jan Kubis may run for president, the press reports.
After the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party left the ruling coalition last autumn, former foreign minister Ivan Korcok declared he would not run for president if Caputova was a candidate.
She has been verbally attacked by ex-PM Robert Fico’s Smer-SD, which leads polls ahead of September’s election, and by Igor Matovic, another former PM and leader of parliament’s largest party, Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO).