Candidate for Banská Bystrica governor Ivan Saktor, in an earlier election debate. (source: Sme - Ján Krošlák)
Two weeks before the regional elections, Ivan Saktor (independent), Michal Kantor (Green Party of Slovakia) and Vojtech Kökény (Party of Roma Coalition) announced they would withdraw from the campaign for regional governor. Marian Kotleba, incumbent governor in Banská Bystrica Region, also participated in the televised debate on the public-service RTVS, the Sme daily wrote.
“I renounce on behalf of democracy,” said Saktor, former Banská Bystrica city mayor, as quoted by Sme. “Democracy means that many people will come to cast their vote and choose the candidate freely, according to their will.”
Saktor knew that he did not have a real chance of winning. He firmly stated that he would not elect the campaign’s favourite candidate, businessman Ján Lunter (independent), also slamming the group of candidates like independent MP Viera Dubačová or Lýdia Priehodová as “a destructive suite”.
Kökény, on the contrary, recommended the picking of Lunter, and argued “that this would benefit changes”.
The last resigning candidate, Kantor, recommended his voters to vote for independent candidate Igor Kašper, as “he knows the region best, since he walked across it all”.
Issues dominating the political debate were the unemployment rate and transport infrastructure, also criticism of the incumbent governor, Sme wrote.
Several candidates gave up their candidacies, mostly to the benefit of Lunter – outspokenly recommending him, e.g. opposition SaS’ Martin Klus and independent Stanislav Mičev. Still, ten more candidates are vying for the position of Banská Bystrica regional governor.
