Centre-right: Belica Should Give Way to Gresso to Stop Far-right Uhrik

Nitra, October 9 (TASR) – A coalition of centre-right parties in Nitra region (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS, OLaNO, the Christian Democrats/KDH, NOVA, the Civic Democratic Party/OKS, Chance and Slovakia’s Democrats) on Monday called on incumbent governor Milan Belica to withdraw from the November 4 vote in favour of its own candidate Jan Gresso in order to prevent the possible election of far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) MP Milan Uhrik.

“We’re calling on other political parties, especially the governing coalition parties, to make a similar move as has been seen in Banska Bystrica region, i.e. to back a single democratic candidate and thus prevent the expansion of extremism. Such a candidate is without any doubt Jan Gresso,” reads the appeal.

The centre-right coalition in Nitra believes that it would be appropriate to replace the sitting governor Belica (Smer-SD, Slovak National Party/SNS and Most-Hid) after 16 years at the helm.

Meanwhile, the bloc of Smer-SD, SNS and Most-Hid stated that it’s in no way considering withdrawing its candidate from the contest.

“We believe that our candidate, with his experience and record, is the best candidate for Nitra governor and the only one who can prevent the election success of an extremist party candidate in Nitra region,” said Smer regional chief and MP Tibor Glenda.

Culture Minister Marek Madaric (Smer-SD) stated last week, referring to internal polls, that Belica is in fact the strongest contender in the region, while Uhrik’s voter support is relatively weak.

Apart from Smer’s Peter Chudik in Presov region, Belica is the only governor to hold the post throughout the entire history of Slovakia’s modern regions, which were created 16 years ago.