Abstract
What leads voters to choose independent candidates? Where are independent candidates more successful? Before the election, independent (often also called civic) candidates provoked controversy among many journalists. For some journalists and analysts, the phenomenon of the independent candidate or "civic activist" was a priori suspicious, as they saw in it a pragmatic decision for a more reliable path to politics (at least communal) than through party structures.
On the other hand, there were voices in their defense, saying that their motives were selfless rather than careerist and that a more civic ethos would only benefit politics. In most cases, independent candidates tend to be inexperienced and have no support in any political party that could help them manage this position or prepare them for it.