BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — An exit poll indicates that the leftist ruling party is leading in the parliamentary election in Slovakia but will need coalition partners to form a government.
The poll showed the Smer-Social Democracy of Prime Minister Robert Fico, which campaigned on an antimigrant ticket, receiving 27.3 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election and winning 45 seats in the 150-member parliament.
That represented a drop in support from the 2012 election when Smer took 44.4 percent and was able to govern alone. A high number of nine parties, including one representing ethnic Hungarians and another led by a neo-Nazi leader, were projected to win parliamentary seats. Analysts say Fico may have misjudged the public mood by focusing too much on Europe’s migration crisis.
