Opposition victorious in regional elections

Both Opposition and independent candidates won six out of the eight posts as heads of Slovakia’s regions in Saturday’s elections. The final polls marked a few historical milestones; the highest turnout for such elections at 29.95 percent and the first woman to lead a region, namely Erika Jurinová in the Žilina Region from the opposition OĽaNO party, being supported by other opposition parties too. The highest turnout of 40.29 percent was recorded in the Banska Bystrica Region where the independent candidate Ján Lunter, a local business owner, defeated the incumbent far-right party leader Marian Kotleba. The new head of Bratislava Region is Juraj Droba; a member of the liberal SaS party, supported by other opposition parties too. The Trnava region will be led by Jozef Viskupič from the opposition OĽaNO party, likewise supported by other opposition parties. In eastern Slovakia the opposition took over the regions of Košice with Rastislav Trnka who defeated Košice city’s mayor Richard Raši by a whisker, and Prešov where Milan Majerský won ahead of the incumbent Peter Chudík who had been at the helm of the region for 16 years. The governmental coalition held its position in only two regions: Milan Belica in the Nitra region and former Defence Minister Jaroslav Baška in the Trenčin region. In terms of regional councils, most of them will be dominated by independent candidates.