<p class="title">Vocal government critic and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova will become Slovakia's first female president after provisional results showed her winning Saturday's run-off election.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Environmental lawyer Caputova got 58.40 percent of the ballot while EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic garnered 41.59, the Slovak Statistics Office said. Official results are due Sunday at noon.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests," Caputova said after her victory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 45-year-old added that the outcome was a sign that "you can win without attacking your opponents."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I believe this trend will also be confirmed in the elections to the European Parliament and the Slovak parliamentary elections next year."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sefcovic, the 52-year-old ruling party candidate, called Caputova to congratulate her and planned to also send flowers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet," he told reporters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who belongs to the governing Smer-SD party, said he expected "constructive cooperation".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Outgoing President Andrej Kiska told reporters that "Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Caputova."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Many countries probably envy us for we have chosen a president who symbolises values like decency."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Political novice Caputova, who ran on a slogan of "Stand up to evil" had earlier called the last few weeks "extremely challenging" and "an intense journey".</p>.<p class="bodytext">No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok.</p>.<p class="bodytext">More recently, she took to the streets of the central European country of 5.4 million along with tens of thousands of other anti-government protesters after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was gunned down alongside his fiancee in February 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of the current premier.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The European Parliament has urged Slovakia to look into "any possible political links to the crimes."</p>.<p class="bodytext">MEPs voiced "concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakia's circles of power."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to AFP on the campaign trail, Caputova said she would "initiate systematic changes that would deprive prosecutors and the police of political influence."</p>.<p class="bodytext">In addition to fighting for justice for all, Caputova has promised better care for the elderly and environmental protection.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Earlier this week, she won an endorsement from Jozef Kuciak, the slain journalist's brother, who denounced Sefcovic for his ties to the political establishment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I will not vote for someone supported by oligarchs and their people who have deprived me of my brother and sister-in-law," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Observers have compared Caputova to French President Emmanuel Macron, an outsider who swept to power on a reformist agenda.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A similar story unfolded during the last presidential election in France, where the representative of the new political trend and a new political movement prevailed," analyst Aneta Vilagi told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But analyst Juraj Marusiak cautioned that both "their programmes were formulated within vague contours, so they can also bring great disappointment."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Caputova, like Macron, is a symbol of a very hazily defined hope."</p>.<p class="bodytext">IT technician Oliver Strycek said Caputova's lack of political experience was refreshing.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I don't see anyone among our politicians who'd be trustworthy, not even within the opposition parties," said the 55-year-old Bratislava voter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Data analyst Viliam Gregus, 28, in the southern town of Komarno, said his choice of Caputova was "a protest vote against Sefcovic and the ruling coalition."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Artist Andrej Petrovic, 37, applauded Caputova's landfill battle, adding: "She will be good for this country."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Though the office is largely ceremonial, the president ratifies international treaties, appoints top judges, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can veto laws passed by parliament.</p>
<p class="title">Vocal government critic and anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova will become Slovakia's first female president after provisional results showed her winning Saturday's run-off election.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Environmental lawyer Caputova got 58.40 percent of the ballot while EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic garnered 41.59, the Slovak Statistics Office said. Official results are due Sunday at noon.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests," Caputova said after her victory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 45-year-old added that the outcome was a sign that "you can win without attacking your opponents."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I believe this trend will also be confirmed in the elections to the European Parliament and the Slovak parliamentary elections next year."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sefcovic, the 52-year-old ruling party candidate, called Caputova to congratulate her and planned to also send flowers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet," he told reporters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who belongs to the governing Smer-SD party, said he expected "constructive cooperation".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Outgoing President Andrej Kiska told reporters that "Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Caputova."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Many countries probably envy us for we have chosen a president who symbolises values like decency."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Political novice Caputova, who ran on a slogan of "Stand up to evil" had earlier called the last few weeks "extremely challenging" and "an intense journey".</p>.<p class="bodytext">No stranger to tough battles, Caputova won a 2016 award for successfully blocking a planned landfill in her hometown of Pezinok.</p>.<p class="bodytext">More recently, she took to the streets of the central European country of 5.4 million along with tens of thousands of other anti-government protesters after investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was gunned down alongside his fiancee in February 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of the current premier.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Five people have been charged, including a millionaire businessman with alleged Smer-SD ties who is suspected of ordering the murders.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The European Parliament has urged Slovakia to look into "any possible political links to the crimes."</p>.<p class="bodytext">MEPs voiced "concern about the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, impunity and revolving doors in Slovakia's circles of power."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to AFP on the campaign trail, Caputova said she would "initiate systematic changes that would deprive prosecutors and the police of political influence."</p>.<p class="bodytext">In addition to fighting for justice for all, Caputova has promised better care for the elderly and environmental protection.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Earlier this week, she won an endorsement from Jozef Kuciak, the slain journalist's brother, who denounced Sefcovic for his ties to the political establishment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I will not vote for someone supported by oligarchs and their people who have deprived me of my brother and sister-in-law," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Observers have compared Caputova to French President Emmanuel Macron, an outsider who swept to power on a reformist agenda.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A similar story unfolded during the last presidential election in France, where the representative of the new political trend and a new political movement prevailed," analyst Aneta Vilagi told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But analyst Juraj Marusiak cautioned that both "their programmes were formulated within vague contours, so they can also bring great disappointment."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Caputova, like Macron, is a symbol of a very hazily defined hope."</p>.<p class="bodytext">IT technician Oliver Strycek said Caputova's lack of political experience was refreshing.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I don't see anyone among our politicians who'd be trustworthy, not even within the opposition parties," said the 55-year-old Bratislava voter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Data analyst Viliam Gregus, 28, in the southern town of Komarno, said his choice of Caputova was "a protest vote against Sefcovic and the ruling coalition."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Artist Andrej Petrovic, 37, applauded Caputova's landfill battle, adding: "She will be good for this country."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Though the office is largely ceremonial, the president ratifies international treaties, appoints top judges, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can veto laws passed by parliament.</p>