Elections26: Dunaj Party Presents Part of Its Election Programme for Bratislava

Bratislava, 21 February (TASR) - A new municipal political party called 'Dunaj' (Danube), which will take part in the local elections in Bratislava, has presented the part of its election programme that concerns the governance of city and municipal firms, EU funds and digitisation, party leader and Bratislava mayor candidate Martin Winkler told a news conference earlier this week. "These are the chapters that determine whether a city functions well or merely reacts to problems from day to day. Bratislava is like one big organisation. When management is lacking, chaos ensues. Decisions are made without data, projects suffer extreme delays, and money is spent inefficiently," stated Winkler. He added that the aim is to put an end to the current improvisation and to introduce order into the city's governance, along with systemic changes and a managerial approach based on data, measurable outcomes and targeted accountability. Concerning municipal firms, Winkler views it as necessary to introduce clear rules, with each of them having an annual plan, tasks, budget and deadlines. Measurable targets will also be set, such as quality, availability, response times and the costs of services provided. The results should be evaluated on a regular basis. According to Winkler, digitisation shouldn't be just one of the city applications, but the way in which the capital should function. Concerning the city budget, he's pledged to safeguard the money of Bratislava residents from 'unreasonable spending and waste', i.e. ensuring financial discipline, strict control of expenditures and scrutiny of how funds are used. He added that municipal firms should no longer be a 'black hole for money'. Winkler is one of the two people who have officially announced that they'll stand for the post of Bratislava mayor. The other one is long-term mayor of Bratislava's borough of Karlova Ves, Dana Cahojova. Current Bratislava mayor Matus Vallo will probably re-run for the post as well. Transport Minister Jozef Raz's (a Smer-SD nominee) name has been mentioned in connection with the post, but he's neither confirmed, nor rejected a bid as yet. ko/df/mf