Milan Kňažko has become the joint mayoral candidate of the right wing in Bratislava after three members of the so-called Right Coalition decided to back him in order to increase the chances of deposing sitting mayor Milan Ftáčnik, Sieť (Network) leader Radoslav Procházka said at a press conference on October 28.
Originally, Sieť nominated Tatiana Kratochvílová, who is abandoning the race following a meeting of the Right Coalition concerning the matter on Monday. However, while Sieť, Slovak Democratic and Chrisitan Union (SDKÚ) and Most-Híd have voiced support for Kňažko, another member, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), has refused to do so due to Kňažko’s ambiguous stance when it came to supporting Andrej Kiska ahead of the presidential election run-off against Smer chairman Robert Fico in March.
Procházka, who presented Kratochvílová’s bid, thanked her at the press conference for the activities that she carried out related to her candidacy. He described Sieť as the main challenger to the governing Smer and said, as quoted by the TASR newswire, that his party as such feels responsibility in relation to the fact that “rightist voters deserve a victory”.
According to the polls, Kňažko, a former actor and later government minister who is running as an Independent with the support of the Christian Democrats and NOVA, has the best chance of replacing Ftáčnik.
Kňažko himself at the press conference stated that he was glad that the right-leaning parties have come to an agreement in order not to divide the votes of the right among too many candidates, which would help Ftáčnik.
“I would also like to thank Mrs. Kratochvílová who has shown by her gesture that when she talks about a change in the capital city that’s no empty gesture,” said Kňažko, according to TASR. Kratochvílová herself was not present at the press conference.
A poll last week suggested that former SDKÚ member Ivo Nesrovnal who is considered to be another serious candidate would have received far fewer votes (17.6 percent) than Kňažko (34.4 percent). Kratochvílová was even further behind in the poll, on less than 8 percent. Ftáčnik received 33-percent support.
(Source: TASR, SITA)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
