Political analyst Grigorij Mesežnikov considers the second round of Slovakia's regional elections to be unsurprising, he told the TASR newswire on November 29.
“Overall, the second round has confirmed Smer’s strong position, but I think they will be exceptionally sorry for one thing. Not only that their candidate for Bratislava region governor lost, but the way that he lost, which could be considered a debacle for Smer,” he said, referring to the relatively high level of support that Smer gave to Bajan.
Bajan (an independent who had the support of Smer, Movement for Democratic Slovakia-HZDS, SZS and HZD) was defeated by Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-SDKÚ MP Pavol Frešo (also backed by KDH, SMK, OKS and SaS).
“The extent of the involvement of Smer key figures, the billboard campaign, direct addresses... sometimes even with the help of dubious methods when they were claiming that Bajan was supported by mayors, who in the end claimed never to have expressed support for him ... all that has proven to be not quite effective,” said Mesežnikov.
"I assume Smer is finished with Bajan," he commented on the possible prospects for future co-operation between Bajan and the party. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
