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slovakia: Slovakia Government Profile 2012

2012/04/04

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Slovakia Government Profile 2012

Slovakia is a parliamentary democratic republic with a multi-party system. The last parliamentary elections were held on June 17, 2006 and two rounds of presidential elections took place on April 3, 2004 and April 17, 2004.

The Slovak head of state is the president (Ivan Gašparovič, 2004 - 2009), elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term. Most executive power lies with the head of government, the prime minister (Robert Fico, 2006 - 2010), who is usually the leader of the winning party, but he/she needs to form a majority coalition in the parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the president. The remainder of the cabinet is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister.

Slovakia's highest legislative body is the 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic (Národná rada Slovenskej republiky). Delegates are elected for a four-year term on the basis of proportional representation. Slovakia's highest judicial body is the Constitutional Court of Slovakia (Ústavný súd), which rules on constitutional issues. The 13 members of this court are appointed by the president from a slate of candidates nominated by parliament.

Slovakia is a member state of the European Union and NATO since 2004. As a member of the United Nations (since 1993), Slovakia was, on October 10, 2005, elected to a two-year term on the UN Security Council from 2006 to 2007. Slovakia is also a member of WTO, OECD, OSCE, and other international organizations.

As for administrative division, Slovakia is subdivided into 8 kraje (singular - kraj, usually translated as "region", but actual meaning is "county"), each of which is named after its principal city. Regions have enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy since 2002. Their self-governing bodies are referred to as Self-governing (or autonomous) Regions (sg. samosprávny kraj, pl. samosprávne kraje) or Upper-Tier Territorial Units (sg. vyšší územný celok, pl. vyššie územné celky, abbr. VÚC).

  1. Bratislava Region (Bratislavský kraj) (capital Bratislava)
  2. Trnava Region (Trnavský kraj) (capital Trnava)
  3. Trenčín Region (Trenčiansky kraj) (capital Trenčín)
  4. Nitra Region (Nitriansky kraj) (capital Nitra)
  5. Žilina Region (Žilinský kraj) (capital Žilina)
  6. Banská Bystrica Region (Banskobystrický kraj) (capital Banská Bystrica)
  7. Prešov Region (Prešovský kraj) (capital Prešov)
  8. Košice Region (Košický kraj) (capital Košice)

 


 

Government type: 

parliamentary democracy

Administrative divisions: 

8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky

Independence: 

1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

National holiday: 

Constitution Day, 1 September (1992)

Constitution: 

ratified 1 September 1992, effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998; amended February 2001

Legal system: 

civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

Suffrage: 

18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: 

unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)

Judicial branch: 

Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council); Special Court (judges elected by a council of judges and appointed by president)

Political parties and leaders : 

parties in the Parliament:: Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Jan FIGEL]; Direction-Social Democracy or Smer-SD [Robert FICO]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Pal CSAKY]; People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or LS-HZDS [Vladimir MECIAR]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party or SDKU-DS [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Jan SLOTA] selected parties outside the Parliament:: Alliance for a Europe of Nations or AZEN [Milan URBANI]; Bridge or Most-Hid [Bela BUGAR]; Civic Conservative Party or OKS [Peter ZAJAC]; Freedom and Solidarity or SaS [Richard SULIK]; Green Party or SZ [Peter PILINSKY]; Party of the Democratic Left or SDL [Marek BLAHA]; People's Party - Our Slovakia or SLS [Jozef SASIK]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Jozef HRDLICKA]; Slovenska Pospolitost [Marian KOTLEBA]; Union of the Workers of Slovakia or ZRS [Jan LUPTAK]; Union - Party for Slovakia or Unia [Milan CELIK]

Political pressure groups and leaders: 

Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia or ZPS; Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic; National Union of Employers or RUZ; Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry or SOPK; The Business Alliance of Slovakia or PAS

International organization participation: 

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Flag description: 

three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red derive from the pan-Slavic colors; the Slovakian coat of arms (consisting of a red shield bordered in white and bearing a white Cross of Lorraine surmounting three blue hills) is centered over the bands but offset slightly to the hoist side

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