Maribor Mayoral Election: Franc Kangler (NLS, SDS, SLS) & Saša Arsenovič (SMC) Joint Favourites

By , 23 Oct 2018, 10:30 AM Politics
Franc Kangler (left), Saša Arsenovič (right) Franc Kangler (left), Saša Arsenovič (right) Franc Kangler's Twitter, Saša Arsenovič's Facebook

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STA, 22 October 2018 - Večer's first public opinion poll ahead of the 18 November local election shows Franc Kangler, the mayor who was forced to step down amid mass protests in 2012, emerging as the top candidate, while his closest rival is a businessman who entered the race at the eleventh hour, Saša Arsenovič. The incumbent is far behind. 

Kangler, the candidate of the New People's Party (NLS), Democratic Party (SDS) and the People's Party (SLS), polled at 28.4%, while Arsenovič, the candidate of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), was endorsed by 20.7% of respondents in the poll conducted for the paper by pollster Ninamedia.

Incumbent Mayor Andrej Fištravec was backed by only 5.1% of the 412 respondents who said they would go to the polls, to rank fifth.

An MP of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Lidija Divjak Mirnik, ranks third on 5.6%, followed by incumbent deputy Mayor Zdravko Luketič (5.2%).

SocDem candidate Alenka Iskra polled at 3.6%, while the remaining 12 candidates received less than 3%.

Among the lists for the city council, the Kangler and Arsenovič lists are in the lead for now, while the SDS, SD, LMŠ, the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), the Firefighters List and the Left can also count on a good result.

Commenting on the survey conducted on 18 and 19 October, the paper says that Arsenovič, a political novice who entered the race late, turned out to be a "game changer".

Fištravec had counted on a run-off against Divjak Mirnik, to collect the votes of Kangler's opponents, but now he has ended up almost tied with the LMŠ candidate as well as his deputy Luketič far away from the top, Večer says in Monday's commentary Cards on the Table.

Kangler, however, is an experienced candidate who knows the city administration and the nature of local election well. He knows that local election are not won only with big speeches and election debates but also in godforsaken pubs.

He enjoys the support of the NLS, SDS and SLS, but the question is if he can reach outside this pool of voters, which could prove essential in the second round, the paper says.

Arsenovič, on the other hand, has been a candidate for only about ten days, so he is seen as having high potential. He can count on voters rejecting ideological divisions and wanting a future-oriented policy.

He is betting on his successful business career, which can, however, prove to be his main obstacle as well, as people will want to know how he plans to separate his business from his mayorship.

His first interviews indicate that he will also try to make the race between him and Kangler into a duel between the urban and rural Maribor.

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