Together There Are More of Us campaign has been launched June 21, in front of the Banská Bystrica regional office. (source: Sme - Ján Krošlák)
The campaign will last until the autumn election and is calling on citizens in Banská Bystrica Region to vote for candidates who do not have extremist and fascist background, the nasabystrica.sme.sk website wrote on June 21.
The campaign was launched in front of the Banská Bystrica regional office on June 21. Activists of Nie v našom meste (Not in Our City) and the Centre of Community Organising initiated the new campaign called a Spolu je nás viac (Together, There Are More of Us) to tour nearby cities, towns, and villages until the regional election.
The incumbent regional governor, Marian Kotleba, is the chairman of the parliamentary party ĽSNS, whose members have faced charges of racist and extremist crimes. The party itself has been deemed extremist and faces a motion by the general prosecutor for its dissolution.
Martina Strmeňová, coordinator of Not in our City, told the Naša Bystrica website that the goal of the campaign is to encourage citizens around the region to vote for non-extremist and non-fascist candidates in the election.
“Gradually, we want to put on the map those towns that will join the manifesto,” Strmeňová said, explaining that they have prepared various events around the region. She said that they have seen support from a large percentage of the region's towns and cities, and they expect this support to grow in the next few weeks.
The website www.spolujenasviac.sk will share details throughout the course of campaign, and visitors to the website can support the campaign online by joining and signing its manifesto.
“We want to use civic activities to motivate people to elect democratic candidates,” the coordinator said. “We are preparing a wide range of events which will be adapble to the current situation,” she said. The activists do not yet endorse any specific political party or candidate for regional governor.
“However, if there is a consensus among the current candidates on who is the strongest among them to challenge Kotleba, we will support him,” she said.
