Mayors attracted to politics by need for change

More than half (51.5 percent) of incumbent long-serving mayors were inspired to enter local politics by their interest in changing their municipality or city, according to a survey conducted among mayors by the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) in late February/early March.
A fifth (19.7 percent) of the mayors polled viewed their candidacy as an effort to make use of their experience in local government. Another 16.8 percent perceived it as part of an effort to resolve a particular problem. The survey also showed that 10 percent of them chose to seek voter support because they didn't agree with the activities of their predecessor. A third of respondents were councillors when they ran for their mayoral post. The results of this survey will form the basis for further work within a project entitled "The Modernisation of Local Territorial Self-Government".