Why are there so few Roma politicians?

Whereas in 1990 there were eight Roma MPs in the Czechoslovak Parliment,
today there are none and candidates who belong to the minority have not had
much success in the recent communal elections either. Although individual
cases of success exist, they are extremely rare. Reasons behind the lack of
Roma representation in politics include negative cononations with the
minority among majority voters, a lack of popular candidates and low
election participation among members of the Roma minority themselves.