Slovakia Movement Hnutie Slovensko | |
|---|---|
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| Chairman | Igor Matovič |
| General Secretary | Július Jakab[1] |
| Parliamentary caucus leader | Michal Šipoš |
| Founder | Igor Matovič |
| Founded | 28 October 2011; 14 years ago (2011-10-28) (as OĽANO) 25 October 2023; 2 years ago (2023-10-25) (as Slovakia) |
| Split from | Freedom and Solidarity |
| Headquarters | Zámocká 6873/14, 81101Bratislava |
| Membership(2022) |  61[2] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre[9] tocentre-right[12] |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
| Colours | |
| Slogan | We will not sell you to the mafia (2023)[13] |
| National Council | 10 / 150 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 15 |
| Regional governors | 1 / 8 |
| Regional deputies | 21 / 416 |
| Mayors[a] | 54 / 2,904 |
| Local councillors[b] | 752 / 20,686 |
| Website | |
| obycajniludia.sk | |
Slovakia (Slovak:Slovensko), known asOrdinary People and Independent Personalities (Slovak:Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti,OĽANO) until 2023, is apopulistpolitical party in Slovakia. Founded in 2011 by former businessmanIgor Matovič, the party championsanti-corruption,anti-elitist andanti-establishment sentiments.[14] It is also frequently identified as abusiness-firm party.[15][16]
The party served as the parliamentary opposition during two electoral terms:2012–2016 and2016–2020. In 2020, it emerged victorious in theparliamentary election and subsequently formed a coalition government. In government, the party advocated forconservative,familistic policies through the implementation of expandedsocial welfare andpro-natalist measures, while concurrently opposing the promotion ofLGBT andreproductive rights. Following thecollapse of the governing coalition and subsequentsnap election in 2023, the party has been opposition once again.
The initial four Ordinary People (OĽaNO) MPs were Igor Matovič, Erika Jurinová, Martin Fecko, Jozef Viskupič.[when?][17] OĽaNO sat in the National Council withFreedom and Solidarity (SaS), and signed an agreement with SaS that its members could notcross the floor to another group. In June and July 2010,[17] it was rumoured that OĽaNO would refuse to back the programme of the new centre-right coalition,[18] which included Freedom and Solidarity, and whose majority depended on Ordinary People.[19]
In August 2010, Matovič said that it was not the right time to become an independent party.[19] However, on 28 October 2011, Ordinary People filed a formal party registration, while Matovič announced that the party would compete in2012 parliamentary election as a separate electoral list, of independents and representatives of theCivic Conservative Party and theConservative Democrats.[20] In the 2012 election, the party came in third place overall, winning 8.55% of the vote and 16 seats.[21]
In the2014 European elections, OĽaNO came in fourth place nationally, receiving 7.46% of the vote and electing 1MEP.[22]
In the2016 parliamentary election, Ordinary People ran in alliance withNew Majority. They received 11.02% votes in Slovakia and consequently 19 MPs in theSlovak Parliament, 17 of whom came from Ordinary People.
In 2014–2019, the party was member of European Parliament group ofEuropean Conservatives and Reformists and in 2019 switched to theEuropean People's Party group.
At theFebruary 2020 parliamentary election, the Party received 25.0% of the vote, winning a 53 of 150 seats in theNational Council. Party leaderIgor Matovič was appointed as the Prime Minister designate.
AsPrime Minister (2020–2021),Igor Matovič's leadership was marked by a combative and chaotic style, leading to tensions within the coalition and his eventual resignation amid a government crisis. Though he stepped down as Prime Minister, he remained the leader of OĽaNO, withEduard Heger—previously serving asFinance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Matovič—succeeding him as Prime Minister (2021–2023). Heger was praised for his diplomatic approach, which facilitated more constructive governance, but his premiership was widely seen as weak and largely nominal, as his authority was undermined by Matovič and coalition partnerBoris Kollár,Speaker of the National Council and leader of the coalition partnerWe Are Family, ultimately leading to his government's collapse.
A study by political scientist Pavol Baboš,Slovakia: Anti-Pandemic Fight Victim of Politicization, highlights how the OĽaNO-led government’s response to theCOVID-19 pandemic was marked by explicitpopulism in both politics and rhetoric. It describes how Prime Minister Igor Matovič created a parallel structure outside the country’s established legislative framework for crisis management, which some viewed as unconstitutional. The study also notes that while the government faced significant instability and internal conflicts, its stance onEuropean integration andEuro-Atlantic cooperation improved during this period.
The government prioritizedanti-corruption efforts, including the arrest of several high-profile figures accused of corruption from previous administrations. These actions were framed as part of a broader campaign to restore public trust in state institutions. However, critics raised concerns about the politicization of these efforts and the potential undermining of judicial independence. The administration’s commitment to systemic reform was often questioned due to inconsistencies in implementation and a perceived lack of long-term strategy.
On 25 October 2023, the party changed its name to Slovakia.[23]
Described as avalence populist party,[24] it eventually adopted a generallyconservative outlook while maintaining itsanti-corruption andanti-elitist rhetoric.[25][26] Party leaderIgor Matovič endorsed the2015 referendum initiated by Alliance for Family, voting against the introduction ofsame-sex marriages,adoptions and compulsorysex education in state schools.[27] Before the2020 parliamentary election, Matovič announced that his party would not join a coalition government that wanted to establishcivil unions or loosendrug policy.[28]
Frequently identified as abusiness-firm party,[15][16] OĽaNO lacks anyinternal democratic structures, and Matovič decides on the composition of the electoral list, admission of members and political nominations.[29][30][31] The use ofpublic subsidies for the party is considered non-transparent and similar to a private company rather than a political entity.[30] OĽaNO claimed to have 50 members as of 31 December 2021.[32]
The party integratedCivic Conservative Party andConservative Democrats of Slovakia members within its list; however, both parties withdrew from the list prior to the election due to a dispute with OĽaNO.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Igor Matovič | 218,537 | 8.6% | 3rd | 16 / 150 | Opposition |
The party legally changed its name before the election to integrateNOVA andChange from Below members within its list.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Igor Matovič | 287,611 | 11.0% | 3rd | 19 / 150 | 3 | Opposition |
The party legally changed its name before the election to integrateNOVA,Christian Union andChange from Below members within its list.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Igor Matovič | 721,166 | 25.0% | 1st | 53 / 150 | 34 | OĽaNO–We Are Family–SaS–For the People (2020–2022) |
| OĽaNO–We Are Family–For the People Minority (2022–2023) | |||||||
| Opposition (2023) |
The party legally changed its name before the election to represent its internal factions and to integrateNOVA members within its list.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Igor Matovič | OĽaNO–KÚ–ZĽ | 13 / 150 |  40 | Opposition | ||
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Jozef Viskupič | 41,829 | 7.5% | 4th | 1 / 13 | ECR | |
| 2019 | Michal Šipoš | 51,834 | 5.3% | 6th | 1 / 14 |  0 | EPP |
| 2024[c] | Peter Pollák | 29,385 | 2.0% | 9th | 0 / 15 | 1 | – |
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Rank | Votes | % | Rank | ||
| 2014 | Helena Mezenská | 45,180 | 2.4% | 7th | |||
| EndorsedAndrej Kiska | 1,307,065 | 59.4% | 1st | ||||
| 2019 | Endorsed Zuzana Čaputová | 870,415 | 40.6% | 1st | 1,056,582 | 58.4% | 1st |
| 2024 | Igor Matovič | 49,201 | 2.2% | 5th | |||
| Endorsed Patrik Dubovský | 16,107 | 0.7% | 7th | ||||
| EndorsedIvan Korčok | 1,243,709 | 46.9% | 2nd | ||||
Na základe týchto skutočností, vystupovania strany a politického programu, a odvíjajúc sa od našej teórie, môžeme stranu zaradiť ako stredopravicovú národnokonzervatívnu stranu.
Celkovo môžeme skonštatovať, že OĽaNO je strana, ktorú radíme medzi podnikateľské strany.
Obe hnutia [hnutie ANO a hnutie OĽaNO] možno charakterizovať ako podnikateľské strany.
