BRATISLAVA, November 28, (WEBNOVINY) — According to preliminary unofficial results of Slovakia’s municipal elections on Saturday, six of eight county capitals will have a new mayor, while only two mayors have managed to defend their post. Pavol Hagyari in Presov and Josef Dvonc in Nitra will remain in their mayoral positions. Bratislava will have a left-wing mayor after twenty years. Right-wing candidate Andrej Durkovsky (KDH) was defeated by Milan Ftacnik, who ran with the support of opposition left-wing SMER-SD. In Trnava, Stefan Bosnak will be replaced by the KDH candidate Vladimir Butko. In Trencin, independent candidate supported by SMER-SD Richard Rybnicek will be the new mayor. In Zilina, the right-wing mayor Ivan Harman will be replaced by SMER-SD candidate Igor Choma. Outgoing leftist mayor of Banska Bystrica Ivan Saktor will be succeeded by independent candidate with the support of right-wing parties Peter Gogola. In Kosice, the Mayor Frantisek Knapik supported right-wing parties will be succeeded by the candidate of SMER-SD and MOST-HID Richard Rasi. According to preliminary figures, turnout in the municipal elections was 49.69 percent.
SITA