THE NUMBER of presidential candidates who have officially submitted their candidacies to the speaker of parliament has climbed to seven after leader of the non-parliamentary Leftist Block Jozef Kalman and Banská Bystrica Mayor Ján Králik were added to the list.
Kalman collected 18,000 signatures while the petition supporting Králik's candidacy featured 25,000.
Former Slovak ambassador to the United States Martin Bútora, leader of the non-parliamentary Movement for Democracy Ivan Gašparovič, parliamentary deputy of the ruling coalition's Christian-Democratic Movement František Mikloško, Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Kukan, and Bratislava regional government chairman Lubo Roman have submitted their candidacy.
Altogether, about twenty people have announced their preliminary interest in running for president. The deadline for submitting candidacies to parliament is midnight, January 30.
Presidential elections will be held on April 3 with a possible runoff two weeks later. The term in office for incumbent President Rudolf Schuster ends on June 15.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
