Election returns showing overwhelming wins for Slovakia"s social democratic Smer (Direction) party in Saturday"s regional elections were called into question Sunday by opposition politicians, according to dpa. National premier Robert Fico"s Smer coalition won control of regional parliaments outright in six of eight races Saturday. Simultaneous elections for regional presidents resulted in outright wins for Smer candidates in four regions with Smer candidates the strong favourites in runoff elections scheduled to take place in two weeks. The opposition coalition, which has coalesced around the country"s Christian democratic party, won control of the parliament in the region surrounding the national capitol of Bratislava, with its candidate favoured to win in the runoff. But opposition members in a press conference Sunday raised allegations of falsified ballots in eastern Slovakia and buying of votes in Roma communities. They threatened to appeal results in at least one region. The elections are widely seen as a test of Fico"s coalition government a half year before national elections. However, voter turnout only amounted to about 22.9 per cent nationwide.
