Polls favour Fico to sweep to victory

SLOVAKIA: Leftist former prime minister Robert Fico (above) is poised to sweep to victory in Slovakia’s election on a pledge to tax the rich and better protect the working class as the country grapples with high unemployment and economic turmoil.

Polls opened in the country yesterday in an early election brought on by the government’s collapse in a confidence vote, with polls indicating success for Fico.

Outgoing prime minister Iveta Radicova’s Slovak Democratic and Christian Union looks likely to be hardest hit by allegations that a private financial group bribed politicians to win privatisation deals.