President of Slovakia - Definition

This is a list of the Presidents of Slovakia.

Slovakia (1939-1945)

• Jozef Tiso (acting) (14 March 1939 – 26 October 1939)
• Jozef Tiso (26 October 1939- April 1945)

Slovakia since 1993

The President of Slovakia is the head of state of Slovakia. Most of his powers are ceremonial. When Slovakia permanently split from Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Prime Minister served as acting President. Then the President was elected by Parliament for a 5-year term. However, when in 1998 the Parliament was unable to choose a President, the Prime Minister and speaker of Parliament became acting Presidents. When after a year the Parliament still could not come to an agreement on the President, the constitution was changed so that the President would be elected by all the voters for a 5-year term. Presidential elections have been held in 1999 and 2004. In order to become President, a candidate must have 50% of the popular vote. If this does not happen in the first round, a runoff is held.

• Vladimír Mečiar(acting) (January 1 1993 – March 2 1993)
• Michal Kováč (2 March 1993 – 2 March 1998)
• Vladimír Mečiar and since 14 July also Ivan Gašparovič (both acting) (2 March 1998 – 30 October 1998)
• Mikuláš Dzurinda and Jozef Migaš (both acting) (30 October 1998 – 15 June 1999)
• Rudolf Schuster (15 June 1999 – 15 June 2004)
• Ivan Gasparovic (15 June 2004 - 2009)

See also:

• List of Prime Ministers of Slovakia
• List of leaders of Slovak parliaments