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3. Political system in Slovakia
The Slovak Republic has been established on January 1, 1993 as one of the successors to the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. It is a parliamentary democracy, and its Constitution guarantees equal rights or all citizens regardless of gender, religion, race, national origin, social status or political conviction.
State bodies
The National Council of the Slovak Republic is a unicameral parliament and the country's main legislative body. The National Council has 150 members elected for 4-year terms in direct elections. The electoral system is proportional representation. Parties are allocated seats in the Parliament according to the percentage share of the votes they get in parliamentary elections. Only a party with at least 5 % of votes can obtain seats in the Parliament.
The President is the Head of State elected for a five-year term in a direct two-round election. The same person can be elected President for a maximum of two consecutive 5-year terms. The current Slovak President is Ivan Gasparovic (2004-2009).
The Government is the highest tier of executive power and consists of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers. The Government is formed on the basis of parliamentary elections (last one held in June 2006). The Prime Minister is appointed and can be dismissed by the President. Upon the advice of the Prime Minister, the President appoints and dismisses other members of the Government. The Government is collectively responsible for the exercise of governmental powers to the Parliament, which may hold a vote of no confidence at any time. The Parliament can hold a vote of no confidence to a single member of the Government too. The current Prime Minister is Robert Fico (since 2006), the leader of SMER - Social Democracy Party. Besides SMER - Social Democracy the Government has been formed by two other coalition parties: People Party - HZDS and Slovak National Party (SNS).
Other constitutional bodies are the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic and the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic.
The state administration power is mostly executed on central level. The central bodies have lower - regional levels. If needed, local state administration authorities establish other authorities and offices in regions.
