Elections26: Bratislava Mayor Vallo and Governor Droba to Re-run for Posts

Bratislava, 2 March (TASR) - Bratislava mayor Matus Vallo and Bratislava regional governor Juraj Droba held a joint news conference on Monday to officially announce their bids for re-election in the local and regional elections due to take place in the autumn of this year. Both Vallo and Droba are running for their posts for the third time. Both are candidates of a four-party coalition comprised of Team Bratislava, Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and Democrats. "I've fallen in love with something we call public service. I enjoy it and I like to make life better," stated Vallo, reiterating that his team has plenty of energy and good ideas. According to Vallo, a great deal has been achieved over the past eight years. He spoke about transparent and well-functioning municipal companies, numerous investments, a reduction in the capital city's debt, the drawing of EU funds in which Bratislava is a leader, and transport projects. He stressed that safety remains a priority. He intends to present his election programme in the future, but he did mention, for example, a new tramline to Bory. Current Bratislava regional governor Droba also wants to continue fighting not against anyone, but for the people of Bratislava region. He described his re-election bid as an official commitment. "We've been working hard for the past eight years," said Droba, recalling projects in education, transport and culture. He said that he enjoys building high-quality homes for everyone. His ambition is to make Bratislava and Bratislava region a hub for the rest of Slovakia. He also plans to present his election programme for the next four years at a later date. Bratislava city and regional councillor Martin Winkler (Dunaj paty), as well as long-term mayor of Bratislava's borough of Karlova Ves, Dana Cahojova, have also officially announced that they'll stand for the post of Bratislava mayor. Transport Minister Jozef Raz's (a Smer-SD nominee) name has been mentioned in connection with the post as well, but he's neither confirmed, nor rejected a bid as yet. Zuzana Krajcovicova will also run for the post of Bratislava regional governor for the extra-parliamentary Right to Truth party. ko/df