BRATISLAVA should not be viewed as a state within a state and governed as if it were separated from the rest of Slovakia, unsuccessful presidential candidate Milan Kňažko said as he announced his official candidacy for the post of mayor of Bratislava in the local elections this autumn on May 30.
In support of his decision, Kňažko referred in particular to the results of the March presidential race. Although he received 12.9 percent in the first round across Slovakia, he garnered as much as 26.6 percent of the vote in Bratislava, which put him in top place there. In addition, Kňazko said that he has decided to run so that he can be a unifying voice among the much-dispersed parties in the centre-right, the TASR newswire reported.
Kňažko accused the incumbent administration of being more inclined towards political than expert-based solutions to the capital’s problems.
Kňažko will be able to count on the support of the Christian Democrats (KDH), who reconfirmed their backing earlier on May 30. The party wants to win over a larger spectrum of rightist parties to endorse Kňažko, who intends to run as a non-partisan candidate, however, TASR wrote.
Meanwhile, local councillor for the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) Ivo Nesrovnal has already announced his candidacy, and the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party said earlier in the day that it would not endorse Kňažko in the municipal election.
Also in the running for the autumn election will be incumbent mayor of Bratislava Milan Ftáčnik (independent, supported by Smer), while the newly founded Sieť party of Radoslav Procházka announced earlier that it will provide its own candidate.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
