Slovakia’s referendum on abolishing Fico’s lifetime benefits failed due to low turnout.

A referendum in Slovakia, in which citizens were to decide, among other things, on the abolition of lifetime benefits for Prime Minister Robert Fico, was declared invalid due to insufficient voter turnout.

This was reported by Aktuality and Associated Press.

Until 2024, only former presidents in Slovakia received lifetime state benefits. Following the assassination attempt on Robert Fico, parliament extended this provision to prime ministers and speakers of parliament who had held office for at least two terms.

The referendum was initiated by the opposition, including former Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy. A petition was organized to hold it, garnering over 350,000 signatures.

Two issues were put to the vote: the abolition of Fico’s lifetime allowance, as well as the re-establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the National Crime Agency.

However, only 16.13% of voters participated in the referendum, while a turnout of over 50% is required for its results to be validated. Therefore, the State Electoral Commission declared the referendum invalid. In three Slovak municipalities, not a single voter showed up to the polls.

At the same time, 94.3% of those who took part in the vote supported the abolition of lifetime payments to the Prime Minister.

Robert Fico himself did not participate in the referendum. He stated that one of the questions was aimed at him personally, but emphasized that he did not interfere with the vote, as he respects referendums as the highest form of direct democracy.

According to the prime minister, turnout would have been even lower if the authorities had actively urged citizens not to participate in the vote. He also accused the opposition of using the referendum to spread hatred and political speculation surrounding the security measures taken following the assassination attempt.

This is the tenth referendum in Slovakia’s history that has failed due to insufficient turnout. The only successful referendum was the 2003 referendum on the country’s accession to the European Union.

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