Slovenia’s President Nataša Pirc
Musar did not appoint a government candidate after the first
round of consultations. The second round of elections started
today to find a government candidate based on electoral
preferences from the March 22nd polls. Parliamentary groups, or
at least ten MPs, will now be able to nominate candidates by May
19th, the deadline for the new phase. Pirc Musar stated from the
beginning that there would be no minority government; the
mandate would be awarded only to those who could secure 46 of
the 90 total seats. The centre-left Freedom Movement (GS), led
by outgoing Prime Minister Robert Golob, narrowly won the March
22 elections. However, he has not found allies for a majority,
opening the door for a likely alternative, conservative-leaning
majority, possibly around former (three-time) right-wing Prime
Minister Janez Janša and his Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).
Janša’s fourth government will likely be formed by a coalition
of SDS, New Slovenia, Democrats, and anti-establishment
Resni.ca, who have already agreed on 20 programmatic points.
Resni.ca is expected to provide the decisive votes for a
majority, having also announced yesterday that it will not
participate in the coalition, despite not considering itself an
external partner or a supra-coalition. Resni.ca, led by Zoran
Stevanović, elected Speaker of Parliament with the same number
of votes expected to form the next government, has stated that
they will support a candidate with widespread support. The SDS
has stated unequivocally that it does not intend to conduct
additional consultations as required by the constitution. As a
result, if no agreement is reached on a new prime ministerial
candidate, fresh elections will be held.
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