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FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0505
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRATISLAVA 000938 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI PINR LO
SUBJECT: SLOVAK LOCAL ELECTIONS PREVIEW - DEC 2, VOL. II 
 
REF: BRATISLAVA 914 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
------------------- 
¶1. (SBU) This is the second of two pre-election cables 
outlining the candidates and issues in the Slovak local 
elections to take place on December 2.  Contrary to previous 
municipal elections that followed local political trends, the 
alliances for this election reflect national coalition and 
opposition groupings.  Many observers think that Smer 
candidates and those from the other coalition parties have 
improved these parties' prospects at the local level due to 
the strength and rising popularity of Prime Minister Robert 
Fico.  Coalition parties' doling out of more job positions in 
regional and local offices than previously may also help.  A 
belief that electing local figures from the ruling parties 
will get the municipality more resources flies in the face of 
the reality of greater decentralization of budgeting in 
Slovakia, but nevertheless can help those candidates.  In 
three of the six largest cities (Kosice, Presov, and Banska 
Bystrica), candidates backed by the national coalition have a 
fair chance of unseating the incumbents.  Smer victories at 
the local level would consolidate and further bolster the 
Prime Minister's popular mandate.  The largest opposition 
party, SDKU (Social Democratic and Christian Union), appears 
resigned to a poor showing in the elections.  Transportation 
is a major issue across the nation and unemployment remains a 
key concern in central and eastern Slovakia (reftel). 
Nation-wide polling indicates a voter turnout around 40 
percent, with a lower percentage in the larger cities. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Another trend is the mainstream approach taken by 
ethnic Romani candidates, mostly running for city council 
seats as independents or with mainstream parties rather than 
ethnic parties (see paragraph 15).  Also worth noting is the 
increased, albeit still limited, attention that Romani issues 
are receiving from some non-Romani candidates.  The Embassy 
PAS has provided a small grant to local election observation 
NGO "Civic Eye" to watch the issue of candidates "buying" 
Roma votes.  Several Emboffs will join this observation 
effort in line with our MPP goal of furthering the political 
integration of the Romani community. END SUMMARY/COMMENT. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Emboffs have traveled extensively in the run-up to 
the December 2 elections.  We offer snapshots of the local 
races in the larger and most interesting cities to help 
explain Slovak political culture.  See reftel for highlights 
from eastern Slovak cities and the legal and fiscal structure 
of these elections. 
 
 
BRATISLAVA: POLITICALLY CONSERVATIVE CAPITAL 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Andrej Durkovsky of KDH (Christian Democratic 
Movement) with the joint support of SDKU, appears to be a 
shoe-in for re-election as mayor of the half million citizens 
of Slovakia's capital city despite what frustrated SDKU 
officials consider a lackluster campaign by an overconfident 
incumbent.  KDH has held the Bratislava mayoral slot for 
nearly all of the post-communist era and the prosperous 
region remains an overall supporter of center-right 
candidates.  Durkovsky's main challenger, Monika 
Flasikova-Benova of Smer, also a Member of the European 
Parliament, just barely received her own party's support 
after publicly criticizing the party for entering a national 
coalition with Vladimir Meciar's HZDS (Movement for a 
Democratic Slovakia) and the far-right SNS (Slovak National 
Party).  Despite her comments, her candidacy is also 
supported by HZDS, SMK (Party of the Hungarian Coalition), SF 
(Free Forum), and the Green Party.  Flasikova-Benova's 
campaign is being run by her newlywed husband Fedor Flasik, 
an experienced campaign manager with a nevertheless poor 
track record who received the blame in 1998 for HZDS's 
failure to win the national elections and again in 2002 for 
the same reason with Smer.  The candidate herself told 
Poloffs that she believes this year's mayoral campaign will 
help her name recognition four years from now.  While her 
husband denied that KDH mayors have done anything for the 
booming city other than add a few buildings and statues, 
Flasikova-Benova did not offer any specifics on how she would 
improve Bratislava's future if elected. 
 
 
ZILINA: SLOTA'S KINGDOM UNDER SIEGE? 
------------------------------------ 
¶5. (SBU) In Zilina, Slovakia's fifth largest city located in 
the northern part of the country with 87,000 inhabitants, 
four-time mayor and chairman of SNS Jan Slota is expected to 
win a fifth term in office.  His candidacy is backed by his 
partners in the national ruling coalition, Smer and HZDS. 
Despite his likelihood of being re-elected, Slota is facing 
his most serious mayoral challenge to date from an unusually 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000938  002 OF 004 
 
 
cohesive right-of-center coalition. SDKU, KDH, OKS (Civic 
Conservative Party), and SF (Free Forum) have nominated 39 
year-old professional politician Ivan Harman.  Two other 
minor candidates are also running. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The slogan for Harman's campaign is "Change" and 
billboards in his favor are widespread throughout the city. 
vast array of NGOs and civic associations, with concerns 
ranging from the environment to transparency to tolerance, 
are backing Harman despite what they claim is the risk to 
their own continued existence if Slota is successful.  In a 
meeting with Emboffs, however, few of Harman's backers 
believed that their candidate will succeed.  The main 
obstacle is the impression among many city residents that 
Slota is responsible for the impressive growth and 
development that Zilina has experienced since he was elected 
that first post-communist mayor in 1990.  One local 
businessman explained that Slota runs Zilina like a fiefdom, 
with businesses paying fealty and needing his blessing to 
operate successfully.  The united opposition's campaign 
efforts are so large that, according to a source in the 
billboard industry, no billboard space was left in the city 
by the time Slota's campaign got around to calling 
advertising agencies.  From another perspective, Slota's 
supporters claim that there is no need for him to invest 
heavily in the campaign given his popularity. 
 
 
NITRA: THREE CANDIDATES PILLOW FIGHT TO THE FINISH 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶7. (SBU) In Nitra, which barely edges out Zilina as 
Slovakia's fourth largest city, Poloffs met November 8 with 
the three leading candidates, all of whom have equal chances, 
advantages, and disadvantages.  Current mayor Ferdinand Vitek 
is running as an independent; he was kicked out of SDKU and 
replaced on their ballot with a former hockey personality who 
is a distant fifth in polls.  No one would tell us why Vitek 
and SDKU parted ways, not even Vitek himself.  NGO leaders 
praised Vitek's accomplishments, but criticized his arrogance 
when dealing with the public.  Smer and SNS are supporting 
Jozef Dvonc, and of course he has the biggest, snazziest and 
most billboards in the race.  He gave the impression of being 
someone who would cooperate across party lines to improve 
life in Nitra, where transportation is one of the biggest 
problems since highways running North-South and East-West cut 
through the city center.  Finally, former mayor Jozef Prokes 
is running with the support of various small parties 
including the "nationalist-light" version of SNS.  Prokes has 
the support of many older citizens and those to whom he has 
personal connections dating decades back when his father was 
an important figure in the city.  We were pleasantly 
surprised by the progressive attitudes we found in Nitra, 
including educated opinions on Roma issues, and a positive 
outlook toward the U.S.  The city's population has contracted 
in recent years as some have moved away to take jobs 
elsewhere, and with a new SONY plant coming online, 
unemployment is down and spirits are up.  The campaign 
therefore is mild, and the outcome very uncertain. 
 
 
BANSKA BYSTRICA: SMER MAY UNSEAT INDEPENDENT INCUMBENT 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶8. (SBU) Nine candidates are competing for the mayor's 
position in Banska Bystrica, a city of 82,000.  Emboffs met 
with the top three: Jan Kralik, the independent incumbent; 
Ivan Saktor, Smer's nominee who has a national reputation 
from his ten years as head of the Confederation of Labor 
Unions, a job he vacated only weeks ago; and Jan Chladny, the 
SDKU candidate who comes across as cold as his name.  Saktor, 
the primary challenger, is running under the slogan "Only an 
influential (well-connected) mayor can implement Bystrica's 
needs."  Saktor's campaign illustrates Smer's election 
machine.  Each of his 500 Smer activists is supposed to 
garner 20 votes for him.  Campaign team members are to be 
paid for the votes they bring in.  While voting is by secret 
ballot, Saktor claims his team will be able to show the votes 
they brought in.  The incumbent Kralik hopes to win 
re-election based on his past accomplishments and continued 
beneficial contacts, despite public criticism for allegedly 
shady business deals.  Local observers give the Smer-backed 
Saktor a good chance of unseating the incumbent while the 
SDKU candidate poses little threat. 
 
 
TRNAVA: ARCHBISHOP'S TOWN LIKELY TO RE-ELECT KDH MAYOR 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶9. (SBU) Sometimes called "Little Rome" as the seat of 
Slovakia's Catholic Archbishop, Trnava is home to 70,000 
people.  Its longterm mayor, Stefan Bosnak from KDH with the 
support of SDKU, will likely win re-election.  During his 
current term in office, Peugeot signed a contract, built a 
factory, and came online to full production.  The Peugeot 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000938  003 OF 004 
 
 
plant now employs about 3300 locals, including notable 
amounts of women and Roma.  (COMMENT: Even a mere handful of 
full-time Roma employees, as is apparently the case in the 
Peugeot factory, is note-worthy in Slovakia.  END COMMENT.) 
Local unemployment has dropped below five percent. 
Challenger Stefan Krizan, a member of SF with support from 
Smer-HZDS-SNS, is basing his campaign on the need to improve 
local transportation and that, with links to the national 
coalition, he is better connected to help the city. 
 
 
TRENCIN: CENTER-RIGHT INCUMBENT HOLDING STEADY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶10. (SBU) Trencin, with a population of 59,000, lies 80 miles 
northeast of Bratislava, near the Czech border.  It is a 
prosperous town with a diversified economy and low 
unemployment.  The primary campaign issue is transportation, 
both the roads and railways require substantial repair.  Two 
of the five candidates have a realistic chance to win: the 
incumbent Branislav Celler of SDKU, running on behalf of SDKU 
and KDH, and Oto Barborak, a Smer party member running on 
behalf of the national coalition partners Smer-HZDS-SNS. 
Though Trencin region has been a HZDS stronghold, Trencin 
city is traditionally dominated by center-right parties. 
Mayor Celler is confident of his re-election as well as 
retaining a center-right majority in the city council. 
Celler has lengthy experience in public and private sector 
administration, a qualification considered important by local 
political observers.  In contrast, the main challenger has no 
experience in government or politics.  Barborak, a professor 
at Trencin University, says his campaign is focused on 
improved communication with the citizens, economic 
development, and stopping the sale of municipal property. 
Barborak indicated to Emboffs that he is concerned that the 
vote count could be manipulated in favor of the incumbent, 
but provided no details to substantiate this concern.  His 
own coalition is represented in all district electoral 
commissions and an NGO watchdog will send a monitoring team 
to the city.  (COMMENT: Barborak did not come across as 
well-prepared when speaking with Emboffs.  Even the HZDS 
regional governor acknowledged that Barborak is not a 
compelling candidate. END COMMENT.) 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Governor of Trencin region, Pavol Sedlacek from 
HZDS, expects Smer to be disappointed with election results 
across Trencin region.  He explained that many successful 
mayors elected in the past for SDL (Party of the Democratic 
Left, which Robert Fico left in 1999 in order to form Smer - 
SDL was subsumed into Smer in 2005) were rejected and 
replaced by new Smer candidates who are neither known nor 
well-accepted in their communities. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Puchov, a town of 19,000 located in Trencin region, 
most recently made headlines for attempting to forcibly 
relocate several Romani families to a neighboring town. 
Puchov's independent mayor, Marian Michalec, is running for a 
third time.  Although Puchov has economically developed and 
prospered during Michalec's tenure, the opposition coalition 
alleges that he governs in an authoritarian style and is 
loathe to release even the most basic information.  Michalec 
has been the subject of multiple unproven allegations of 
corruption.  SDKU, KDH, and an independent grouping support 
challenger Marcela Kadrliakova.  The opposition acknowledges 
that it will be an uphill battle to unseat the current mayor, 
who has the support of the two largest employers in town, the 
tire manufacturers Matador and Continental. 
 
 
KOMARNO: IN THE ETHNIC HUNGARIAN REGION 
--------------------------------------- 
¶13. (SBU) Media reports from Komarno, a largely ethnic 
Hungarian town with 38,000 residents located on 
Slovak-Hungarian border, indicate that some members from SMK 
(Party of the Hungarian Coalition) are worried that the five 
ethnic Hungarian candidates for mayor may split the vote so 
much that the lone ethnic Slovak candidate could take the 
election.  Three days before voters go to the polls, SMK 
asked the weakest ethnic Hungarian candidates to pull out. 
It is unlikely that candidates other than ethnic Hungarians 
would actually win in majority Hungarian towns. 
 
 
BANSKA STIAVNICA: TIME FOR A CHANGE 
----------------------------------- 
¶14. (SBU) The beautiful UNESCO heritage site of Banska 
Stiavnica, a former boomtown that mined silver and gold, is 
the site of an interesting race.  Current mayor Marian 
Lichner is an old communist who is now completing his fourth 
four-year term. His main supporters are retired people and 
workers who lost their mining and tobacco-factory jobs in the 
1990's and now long for the good old days.  On the other side 
are a series of candidates who criticize Lichner's 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000938  004 OF 004 
 
 
lackadaisical management style, chaotic and ineffective city 
services, and a complete lack of development, including a 
stagnating ski resort project.  The opposition candidates 
include a hockey-playing traffic cop popular among youth, the 
principal of the high school, and the director of the local 
unemployment office.  The last candidate has the support of 
the SDKU and many local business leaders, and seems quite 
sure of his chances.  The plethora of opposition candidates 
may well divide the anti-Lichner vote and ensure him a fifth 
term. 
 
 
ROMANI CANDIDATES: POTENTIAL FOR CITY COUNCIL SEATS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶15. (SBU) The National Democratic Institute (NDI) reports 
that it is pleased with the campaigns of the ethnic Romani 
candidates it provided political training for.  About ten of 
its trainees are running for city council spots in central 
and eastern Slovakia, some independently and others with 
mainstream parties, including Smer, SDKU, and KDH.  NDI 
research shows that more Roma are running for office in more 
municipal districts than ever before.  The organization 
estimates that over 1000 Romani candidates are running for 
mayor or town council in several hundred towns and villages, 
almost all of which have less than 1000 inhabitants.  The 
largest cities with Romani city council candidates are Presov 
(Roman Estacok, independent), Banska Bystrica (Andrea 
Buckova, independent), and Ruzomberok (Viera Kroscenova, 
KDH).  A win in any of these cities would be the 
highest-level elected office held by a Rom in a seat 
requiring a substantial amount of non-Romani votes.  (NOTE: 
Romani candidates have previously been elected as mayors and 
council members of villages.  A Rom has been elected to the 
Kosice city council based on a district comprised solely of 
the Romani housing complex "Lunik 9".  END NOTE.)  NDI 
released a report highlighting that, largely due to poor 
performance of ethnic Romani political parties in past 
elections, Romani civic groups were encouraging Romani 
candidates to cooperate with mainstream parties.  NDI 
supports this strategy and notes that Romani issues are more 
widely discussed in mainstream political debates and 
platforms now compared to four years ago. 
VALLEE