Parliamentary elections are taking place in Slovenia this Sunday. Polling stations across the country opened at 7 am. The polls highlighted the rejection of the center-right government of right-wing Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose two-year reign has been criticized as authoritarian. The liberal left’s anti-Jansa camp has excellent prospects for victory. The new head of government will be Robert Golob, who will change his political career.
The electoral race must remain exciting until the end. On the one hand, polls indicate a direct contest for first place between Jansa’s conservative right-wing SDS and Golob’s liberal-green liberation movement (Gibanje Svoboda). The fight for the backseats is also uncertain, which will be almost even more important for the majority situation.
The freedom movement was slightly ahead of the SDS in forecasts, so both parties must count me for about a quarter of the vote. In addition to the SDS, three parties out of a total of nine parliamentarians can certainly count on entering parliament. Two opposition parties, the Social Democrats (SD) and the Left (Levica), as well as co-ruler NSI Christian Democrats (New Slovenia), are expected to easily overcome the four percent barrier to enter parliament.
Behind them the race is still open. The liberal LMS (former prime minister Marjan Šarec’s list) and the social-liberal party of former prime minister Alenka Bratušek (SAB) vacillated in the last few days before the elections between returning and being expelled, but forecasts have recently shown that could reach Parliament. The two parties have so far formed an anti-Jansa bloc in the opposition along with the SD and the left. It is also likely to be tight for the smallest party in the coalition, the liberal Konkretno, which is running in the “Let’s Unite Slovenia” electoral alliance.
Golob’s liberation movement, which has already spoken out in favor of cooperation with the anti-Jansa opposition bloc, should find it easier to form a coalition. On the other hand, Jansa is likely to have the same problems as four years ago when, despite winning the elections, he was unable to assemble a government for lack of partners. He only came to power in the spring of 2020, when former Prime Minister Sarec’s left-liberal minority government collapsed midway through the legislative period.
The Corona Resnica (truth) protest party may come as a surprise. It is not excluded that the party, which led mass protests against Corona’s measures last fall, could still reach parliament. The Pirate Party is also likely to get not far from the four percent barrier.
A significantly higher voter turnout is expected than in the 2018 elections, when it was 52.6%. Experts expect it to be definitely higher than 60%. Polling stations are open until 7 pm. Output survey results are published immediately after surveys close.