Slovakia elects first female governor

BRATISLAVA: Fears of a far-right surge in Slovakia’s regional elections appeared unfounded yesterday, as preliminary results showed the leader of the openly racist and antiSemitic People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) losing his seat as local governor.

In a shock election result in 2013, Marian Kotleba was elected governor of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia’s largest region by area.

However, in Saturday elections for local assemblies and governors in Slovakia’s eight administrative regions, anti-fascist alliance candidate Jan Lunter secured 48.5% of the votes – almost double that of Kotleba.

Saturday marked the first time that a woman was elected regional governor: Erika Jurinova, the candidate for a liberal-conservative bloc of parties, was elected governor of Zilina in the north, in a clear win over the Social Democrat incumbent. – dpa