Svobodna Dnevnik

[Hadash]

Svobodna Dnevnik

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Zdravka Magajna elected Mordvanian President

By: Polina Lamparska
Published: Marth, 1602


Zdravka Magajna will become the 5th President of the Republic of Mordvania, and the 6th Mordvanian head of state since the establishment of the Republic of Mordvania in 1544

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Zdravka Magajna, the candidate of the Centre Democratic Party defeated independent candidate Marija Vaznek by 51.3 to 47.8% in the second round.

Magajna, 59, will succeed Agnieszka Szczepanska, as President of the Republic of Mordvania. Szczepanska was elected in 1596 as a candidate of the centrist Centre Democratic Party. His rival that time, ultra-nationalist Lojze Drnovsek (today leader of the Mordvanian National Party) only obtained 4.4% of the vote. For first time, a president will be succeed by another president of the same political party.

Although considered the front runner before the start of the campaign (Magajna actually obtained 31% of the vote in the first round, more than ten points over runner-up Marija Vaznek), the nomination of Zdravka Magajna was itself a relative surprise. Magajna, who had been Minister of Defense since 1599, was not a member of the Centre Democratic Party when Szczepanska was elected president six years ago. She was appointed President of the Republican Council (head of government) in 1596, shortly after Szczepanska's win in the presidential election. In 1598 she resigned as head of government and run as Centre Democratic Party candidate to the local election in Slovograd, which she lost by a few thousands votes in the run-off. However, she was endorsed by Szczepanska and other government and party officials, winning the primaries of the Centre Democratic Party with a clear difference, although not without opposition.

Magajna, who was previously Minister of Economic Development from 1579 to 1585 under the presidencies of late Bozidar Strnad and Zvezdana Serebryak in a Mordvanian Republican Party-led government will become the third female president of Mordvania. For first time ever, the two candidates in the second round were women, although this was mostly a consequence of the division of the center-right republican parties (the Mordvanian Republican Party finished third at 11% -seven points behind Vaznek who obtained 18%-, but combined with the conservative Mordvanian Democratic Union and the Republican Democratic Party, they would have obtained 25% of the vote, enough to make it clearly to the second round).

Marija Vaznek, was certainly one of the surprises of the 1602 presidential election, running as an independent candidate in an anti-establishment but pro-business platform. Vaznek is a Mordvanian businesswoman, well-known for being also the owner of FK Mazenskai football club, as well as owner of several media and production companies. It was not the first attempt in politics for Vaznek, however, who was previously a presidential candidate with a much poorer result in 1596. Most polls predicteda clear win for Magajna, but Vaznek was able to reduce the differences in the last two weeks with an aggressive campaign - although it was not enough to become the first Mordvanian president to be elected as an independent since Chairman Bozidar Strnad. Vaznek's, who conceded defeat only after midnight, declared that her campaign will be "only the beginning of a period the change", but it is unclear if she will be able to have an impact in the coming years or will simply fade away.

Early in the campaign, it seemed that another candidate, Dragomir Senk, was likely to make an impact in the election. Denk, a retired military officer, had been Chief of the General Staff of the Mordvanian Republican Armed Forces from 1588 to 1598, and Chairman of the Council of Defense from 1599 and 1601, run in a platform focused on anti-corruption and law and order policies. However, after several controversies, he finished fifth with 8% of the vote in the first round.

It is unclear how much Zdravka Magajna's presidency is expected to be a continuation of Agnieszka Szczepanska's presidency, which -despite continuous economic growth and a record low unemployment rate at the end of her term- was marked by a leak scandal, unstable approval ratings and a failed constitutional reform. However, Magajna is not expected to confirm if she will call snap elections or if Eha Grahek-Ternehetär will continue as head of government -currently under a minority government since 1599- until next legislative election.