2 yıl önce

Opposition wins in divisive Slovenian election

PM Janez Jansa loses national election as the environmentalist Freedom Movement party wins more votes than his SDS party, according to preliminary figures from election authorities.

AFP

Newcomer Robert Golob has the backing of several centre-left opposition parties with whose help he could form a majority in the 90-member parliament.

Political newcomer liberal Robert Golob has defeated Slovenia's three-time Prime Minister conservative Janez Jansa in elections in a country split by bitter political divisions over the rule of law.

With almost all the votes counted in the country of around two million people, Golob's Freedom Movement (GS) stood at 34.5 percent of the vote compared to 23.6 percent for Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party.

GS, which was launched only in January has built on anger with Jansa's regime in the former Yugoslav state.

The opposition accuses Jansa of having tried to undermine democratic institutions and press freedoms since he returned to power in 2020.

Jansa, who had hoped to win a fourth term in office, conceded that he had been defeated in the vote, adding however that his SDS party had secured more votes than ever before.

"The results are what they are. Congratulations to the relative winner," Jansa said, addressing his supporters.

Analysts say concerns over the rule of law have boosted the opposition in the Alpine ex-Yugoslav state with a population of about two million.

Golob, a 55-year-old former power company manager, has promised to restore "normality" and billed the elections as a "referendum on democracy".

Tens of thousands of people have attended regular anti-government rallies since Jansa took power in March 2020.

Jansa, 63, an admirer of former US president Donald Trump, has campaigned on promises of stability.

'Breaking point'

Uros Esih, a columnist at one of Slovenia's leading dailies Delo, said ahead of the elections that they represented a "breaking point" with "liberal and illiberal political forces clashing" in Slovenia.

"I hope the situation will change…It is obvious that most of the people are not satisfied with this government and the way it's governing," Sara Rigler, a 21-year-old psychology student, said at a polling station in the capital Ljubljana.

The rise of Golob began when he took over a small Green party in January, renaming it Freedom Movement (GS).

Golob also has the backing of several centre-left opposition parties with whose help he could be able to form a majority in the 90-member parliament.

Analysts have been expecting an increased turnout with voters turning against Jansa's style.

His image in the last two years has also been hurt by rows with Brussels over his moves to suspend funding to the national news agency and drag out the appointment of prosecutors to the bloc's new anti-graft body.

SOURCE: AFP