Slovakia will hold a presidential election in March, the NATO and eurozone member's speaker of parliament Peter Pellegrini, a top contender for the post, said on Monday.
Though the office is largely ceremonial, the president ratifies international treaties, appoints top judges, heads the armed forces and can veto laws passed by parliament.
"Presidential elections in Slovakia will take place on March 23," Pellegrini told journalists.
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the ballot, a second round will take place on April 6 in the country of 5.4 million people.
Incumbent Zuzana Caputova, a vocal critic of the governing three-party coalition, announced in June that she would not run for a second term.
Her main political opponent, Prime Minister Robert Fico, and his ruling Smer-SD party will back Pellegrini, leader of coalition partner Hlas-SD.
Some 40 percent of Slovaks would vote for Pellegrini, according to the latest polls.
Opposition parties believe that a Pellegrini win would pave the way for presidential pardons of Smer-SD allies, including a former special prosecutor convicted of bribery and a former tax official found guilty of corruption.
Andrej Danko, leader of the nationalist SNS party -- a minor coalition partner -- and former foreign ministers Ivan Korcok and Jan Kubis also plan to run.