Members of the liberal Freedom Movement party celebrate after exit poll results gave them victory in Slovenia’s parliamentary elections, in Ljubljana on April 24.JURE MAKOVEC/AFP/Getty Images
Slovenia’s populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa lost national elections on Sunday when the environmentalist Movement for Freedom party won more votes than his SDS party, according to preliminary figures from electoral authorities.
Jansa, hoping to win a fourth term in office, admitted that he had been defeated in the vote, adding, however, that his SDS party had won more votes than ever before.
“The results are what they are. Congratulations to the relative winner,” Jansa said, addressing his supporters.
The election was expected to be close, but official preliminary figures showed the Freedom Movement, a latecomer to the election, leading with 34.34 per cent of the vote, much more than expected, while the SDS obtained 23.83 percent, based on 98.20 percent. cent of the ballots counted.
That would give the Freedom Movement, which campaigned on the green energy transition, an open society and the rule of law, 40 seats in the 90-seat parliament, and the SDS 28 seats.
Turnout in the vote, in which some 1.7 million people were eligible to cast ballots in the small Alpine country that is a member of the European Union and the NATO military alliance, was 68 percent, he said. the election commission.
Experts said it was well above the national average.
“The biggest winner is, of course, the Movement for Freedom,” said Peter Merše, a political analyst. “Slovenia is once again experimenting with new faces, with people we have barely heard of before.”
The Freedom Movement, which was formed last year, is led by Robert Golob, a former executive at a state-owned energy company who launched green energy projects.
To form a government, he is expected to form a coalition with the Social Democratic and Leftist parties, which currently have 12 seats in parliament.
Golob, 55, who is believed to have contracted COVID-19, thanked his supporters for the historic turnout via video call.
“It doesn’t mean we’re the only ones, it means people really want change,” he said. “So today people dance, but tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow we start working hard to justify the trust.”
Jansa, the 63-year-old populist who has clashed with Brussels over media freedom and has been accused by opponents of undermining democratic standards, which he has denied, said the new government will face many challenges and he hopes it is at the height. .
Many people interviewed by Reuters said they wanted change.
“We don’t want these politicians in power anymore,” said Milena, 58, who voted in the capital Ljubljana. “The last two years have been desperate in every way. We want new faces, we want normalcy and stability.”
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