SaS Confirms Three Candidates for Regional Governors

Bratislava, March 31 (TASR) – Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MPs Martin Klus, Juraj Droba and Renata Kascakova have confirmed their bids for regional governor posts in the regional elections this autumn, TASR learnt on Friday.

Droba will seek election as governor of Bratislava region, while Klus will run for Banska Bystrica governor and Kascakova will vie for the post in Trencin region.

“We’re officially announcing the bids of our candidates going into the [regional] elections. They know all too well that they can’t sit on two chairs at the same time. So, if some of them are elected, they’ll relinquish their MP’s seats,” said SaS chairman Richard Sulik.

He went on to give assurances that all three would make good regional governors. Calling the situation in Banska Bystrica “difficult” – presumably in reference to the fact that the governor there is currently far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) leader Marian Kotleba – Sulik said that SaS isn’t underestimating matters. “We believe that we’ll have success with Martin Klus,” he added.

Klus expressed his commitment to do his utmost to ensure progress in Banska Bystrica region. He unveiled plans for a comprehensive audit there and for measures that will turn the region into a “veritable showcase of transparency”.

Sulik said that Klus’s bid has also been supported by the fellow Opposition OLaNO-NOVA party, with additional talks with other parties still under way.

Kascakova criticised the way in which Trencin region is being run, saying that she’s aiming for sensible allocations of funds, rather than those according to political affiliations.

Meanwhile, Droba is in talks with other parties that may lend their endorsement to his bid. He singled out transport in Bratislava region as his priority, proposing fully functional integrated transport, alternative transport and cycling routes as ways of easing the region’s traffic woes.