Matovic and Dubovsky to Run for Presidential Post as Well

        Bratislava, January 31 (TASR) - Opposition 'Slovakia' party leader Igor Matovic will run in the presidential election for the party, Matovic himself told a news conference on Wednesday.
        Historian Patrik Dubovsky will run for the presidential post as well. MPs of the 'Slovakia', 'For the People' and Christian Union (KU) caucus put their signatures under both proposals. Matovic explained that Dubovsky is a candidate of 'For the People' and KU.
        The deadline to submit presidential candidacies expired at midnight on Tuesday (January 30).
        Matovic said that he wants to contribute to a search for the truth with his candidacy. He stressed that people should be enabled to vote in line with their conscience in the first round. "First of all, we're going to help people to have enough information, and we're also going to spice up the campaign for the candidates," stated Matovic. He stressed that he doesn't want to be the president and that he won't be, but he doesn't intend to withdraw his candidacy.
        Matovic declared that he doesn't want to harm candidate Ivan Korcok by his candidacy, but he wants to ask him questions "on behalf of the people" as well. "I'm signing up for the fight, I want to cover a democratic candidate's back, I want to create a corridor for truth and maybe also pose unpleasant but suitable questions," he said. He didn't rule out that the 'Slovakia' party might support Korcok in the second round of the election.
        Proposals for presidential candidacies were submitted to Parliamentary Chair Peter Pellegrini (Voice-SD), who now has 14 days to examine whether these meet the conditions stipulated by the law. For proposals submitted on the last possible day, the deadline for examining them will expire on February 13.
        Presidential candidates can be proposed either by at least 15 MPs or by the public based on a petition signed by at least 15,000 people.
        The first round of the presidential election is slated for Saturday, March 23, and a potential run-off round, if none of the candidates receives a majority of votes, for April 6. Current President Zuzana Caputova's term in office will expire on June 15, 2024. She won't re-run for the post.
        The election campaign ahead of the presidential election has already started. Candidates are allowed to spend a maximum of half a million euros on campaigning. The campaign will end 48 hours before election day.