Bratislava - A second round of voting in Slovakia's presidential elections was set for May 29th after official results yesterday showed that the government-backed candidate, Mr Rudolf Schuster, had failed to win an outright majority.
Mr Schuster received 47.4 percent of the vote in Slovakia's first direct presidential elections. His Party of Civic Harmony (SOP) is one of the four in the coalition government led by Mr Mikulas Dzurinda.
Mr Schuster's main rival, the former prime minister Mr Vladimir Meciar of the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), did better than expected with 37.3 per cent of the vote.
A low turnout in the second round could weaken Mr Schuster's position, while Mr Meciar enjoys a stable support base among voters.