President Zuzana Caputová was elected on June 15, 2019, making her the first woman and youngest president in Slovakian history. After earning a degree in law from Bratislava’s Comenius University in 1996, President Caputová got into politics. After finishing her education, Caputová began working for the Pezinok local administration before moving into the nonprofit world and joining the Open Society Foundations. She focused heavily on the problem of abused and exploited children while she was employed with the Open Society Foundations.
President Caputová joined the Progressive Slovakian political party in 2017 and was chosen to serve as the party’s Vice-Chairwoman. She also served as the vice chair, prior to her resignation in 2019 to start her presidential campaign. Caputová advocated for the removal of officials who failed to combat corruption from their positions in her inauguration speech. She promised to increase access to justice for all. Her election as president could mark a turning point for Slovakia, which was placed 83rd out of 149 nations in the Global Gender Gap Report of 2018, with particularly bad results for women’s participation in politics.
Summary article by: iSAW Team
Original Article Title: Slovakia Welcomes its First Female President, Zuzana Čaputová
