The civic campaign Chcem tu zostať translated as I Want to Stay Here launched its campaign at Pohoda, the largest multi-genre music festival in Slovakia which took place last weekend at Trenčín airport. The goal of the campaign is to call on young people to participate in the General Election taking place in September. The organisers plan to meet young people at festivals, concerts, discussions all over Slovakia, as well as on social networks and motivate them to take an interest in public affairs.
"Voter participation in elections is the key to the quality of democracy. Civil society in Slovakia has demonstrated many times in the past its ability to mobilise higher participation, especially among young voters. The Chcem tu zostať campaign continues this tradition with the aim of spreading a positive message about the country. It connects hundreds of actors from the non-governmental sector with young influencers to inspire young people to get involved in public affairs," said Fedor Blaščák, one of the initiators of the campaign.
The interest of young people to participate in the elections is at 52 percent, according to a survey by the Focus agency. This is a decrease of 16 percentage points compared to 2019. "The number is also 15 percentage points lower than the declared interest in going to vote in the general population," the initiators added.
They also pointed out that young voters, according to several surveys, do not see their future in the country positively, deepening their sense of resignation and increasing their motivation to go abroad. "The title of the campaign responds precisely to these negative tendencies among young people. The risk of young people leaving if the country's condition deteriorates after the elections is high," they noted.
The main initiators of the campaign are the Civic Platform for Democracy, Memo 98, the Open Society Foundation and the Pontis Foundation. Dozens of other NGOs are also involved. According to them, the campaign is not directed against any party or candidate, nor does it express support for anyone in particular. The campaign's ambassadors are former Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, moderator Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová and former hockey player Michal Handzuš, and dozens of influencers are also working on it.
Source: TASR
