Slovakia elected Zuzana Čaputová, the first female president in the nation's history

Zuzana Čaputová thanking her supporters after winning the presidency bid, in her team’s headquarters. CREDIT: RADOVAN STOKLASA/REUTERS

IL PONTE EDITORIAL / March 31, 2019

( 1 min read )

Zuzana Čaputová, a relative newcomer in the field of politics, has managed to win in almost all but one self-governing region, receiving 58.41 percent of the overall votes, which amount to more than one million votes.

Although the office of the president in Slovakia is more of a representative rather than an executive position, it carries a quite large symbolic meaning. As many Slovak commentators have said, many things in this victory are symbolic. Čaputová is:

1.       The first female president not only in Slovakia but also in Central Europe (countries of V4 - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia; and Austria).

2.       The first Slovak president that is openly liberal.

3.       The first president that has thanked her supporters not only in her native Slovak language but also in the languages of minorities (Hungarian, Czech, Ruthenian and Roma language) and moreover, her speech was translated into sign language.

The victory of Zuzana Čaputová became the symbol of the fact that politicians can win their campaigns with a believable authenticity and without aggressively attacking their opponents. Let us all hope that this type of politics is the new trend.

IL PONTE STAFF