Slovak referendum on anti-corruption office fails to reach validity threshold

Slovakia held a referendum on Saturday to reinstate an anti-corruption prosecutor's office, a move championed by the opposition after the current populist and ultranationalist coalition abolished it. However, preliminary, unofficial results indicate that voter turnout was less than 20%, falling short of the simple majority required for the referendum to be valid.

The vote also addressed the abolition of lifetime pensions for prime ministers and parliamentary speakers who have served ten years. This measure appeared to pass, with the current populist left-wing prime minister, Robert Fico, being the only one to meet the criteria for such a pension.

The referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary party 'Demokrati,' which gathered approximately 384,000 signatures, exceeding the 350,000 needed to bring the proposal before the president. This marks Slovakia's tenth referendum since its formation in 1993, with only the 2003 vote on European Union accession achieving a valid and binding outcome.