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| - Slovaks voted in large numbers at a general election on Saturday, expected to oust the governing populists from power in an angry backlash over the 2018 the murder of a journalist who exposed high-level corruption in the eurozone country. Allegedly a hit ordered by a businessman with connections to politicians, the killings of Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova have become a lightning rod for public outrage at graft in public life. Surveys suggest that Robert Fico's governing populist-left Smer-Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party is threatened by OLaNO, a surging centre-right opposition party focused on rooting out corruption. "Change is much needed here," said Daniela Jonasova, a 35-year-old office clerk, who told AFP she voted for OLaNO at a Bratislava polling station. According to Bratislava-based political analyst Radoslav Stefancik, "the election is primarily about the desire for decency in politics. "Instead of protesting against the ruling Smer-SD party on the streets, people will do so in polling stations," Stefancik told AFP. The double murder triggered the largest anti-government protests since communist times and toppled Fico as prime minister, with his party colleague Peter Pellegrini taking up the reins. It also propelled Zuzana Caputova, a liberal lawyer and anti-graft activist, out of nowhere to win last year's presidential race in the country of 5.4 million people. "There's a strong desire for change in society," Branislav Kovacik, the dean of the faculty of political science at the University of Matej Bel in Banska Bystrica, northern Slovakia, told AFP on Saturday. "The parties of the democratic opposition are anticipating a good result that would allow them to take power," he added, referring to five opposition parties including OLaNO and the "For the People" party of former liberal president Andrej Kiska. Smer-SD is likely to lack obvious coalition partners and has ruled out teaming up with the far-right LSNS Our Slovakia party. President Caputova told reporters on Saturday she would consider the "coalition potential" of party leaders when deciding whom to task with creating a government. Analysts suggest that OLaNO leader Igor Matovic, a 46-year-old media-savvy MP but unpredictable politician, could become premier if he manages to unify the splintered opposition. Having vowed to immediately push through anti-corruption measures should he win office, Matovic, appears to have galvanised the voter outrage over the murders and the high-level corruption they exposed. An eccentric self-made millionaire and former media boss, Matovic set up "Ordinary People and Independent Personalities -- OLaNO" a decade ago. Referring to the Greek myth of a many-headed monster, Matovic urged Slovaks to "come out massively to vote and cut off the last head of the Hydra of corruption" as he cast his ballot in his native Trnava, western Slovakia. Meanwhile, Smer-SD Prime Minister Pellegrini said he was "ready to accept any result" after voting in the northern city of Banska Bystrica. But not everyone is fed up with Smer-SD. "Fico has character. He's a real politician. Everyone else lacks the experience and knowledge as how to run a country," Bratislava pensioner Iveta told AFP. She said that benefits which Smer-SD introduced for pensioners and students, like free trains, were a factor in her decision. Capitalising on its anti-establishment posture and a backlash against Slovakia's impoverished Roma minority, surveys show the LSNS could double its current 10 seats in the 150-member unicameral parliament. LSNS leader Marian Kotleba, 42, a former regional governor, is notorious for having previously led street marches with party members dressed in neo-Nazi uniforms. He faces fresh hate-speech charges after having already been acquitted of similar allegations. Friendly with Russia, Kotleba wants Slovakia to exit the US-led NATO defence alliance and is hostile towards the European Union. Heavily dependent on car-making, economic growth in the Slovak economy is projected to slow to 2.2 percent this year, according to the European Commission's latest forecast. Unemployment is relatively low at around 5.6 percent in late 2019. Although there was no official tally, turnout was reportedly high with long queues forming at polling stations. Election officials extended voting by one hour until 2200 GMT after two deaths at separate polling stations. An exit poll is expected shortly after polling stations close. bur-mas/pvh
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