Graz, Apr. 24, (dpa/GNA) - Almost 1.7 million Slovenians head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in a vote that will also determine whether right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Janez Janša will remain in power.

The vote could be critical for Janša, who has been in office since 2020. He and Robert Golob, the lead candidate of the liberal opposition Freedom Movement, are the main contenders and are roughly neck and neck, according to recent polling.

However, neither candidate appears likely to gain an absolute majority in Slovenia’s 90-seat National Assembly.

Janša has few potential allies among the smaller parties for a coalition government, while Golob, with his new movement, is seen as having good chances of winning the support of the country’s other centre-left parties for a possible coalition. 

Janša became prime minister in March 2020 after drawing the support of some lawmakers away from the previous centre-left coalition.

Before his third premiership began in 2020, Janša was prime minister from 2004 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013. 

However, critics say Janša has sought to curtail media freedom and pays scant respect to democratic values or the rule of law. A close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, he is also seen as trying to bring the media and judiciary under his control.

GNA

Graz, Apr. 24, (dpa/GNA) - Almost 1.7 million Slovenians head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in a vote that will also determine whether right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Janez Janša will remain in power.

The vote could be critical for Janša, who has been in office since 2020. He and Robert Golob, the lead candidate of the liberal opposition Freedom Movement, are the main contenders and are roughly neck and neck, according to recent polling.

However, neither candidate appears likely to gain an absolute majority in Slovenia’s 90-seat National Assembly.

Janša has few potential allies among the smaller parties for a coalition government, while Golob, with his new movement, is seen as having good chances of winning the support of the country’s other centre-left parties for a possible coalition. 

Janša became prime minister in March 2020 after drawing the support of some lawmakers away from the previous centre-left coalition.

Before his third premiership began in 2020, Janša was prime minister from 2004 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013. 

However, critics say Janša has sought to curtail media freedom and pays scant respect to democratic values or the rule of law. A close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, he is also seen as trying to bring the media and judiciary under his control.

GNA

Graz, Apr. 24, (dpa/GNA) - Almost 1.7 million Slovenians head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in a vote that will also determine whether right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Janez Janša will remain in power.

The vote could be critical for Janša, who has been in office since 2020. He and Robert Golob, the lead candidate of the liberal opposition Freedom Movement, are the main contenders and are roughly neck and neck, according to recent polling.

However, neither candidate appears likely to gain an absolute majority in Slovenia’s 90-seat National Assembly.

Janša has few potential allies among the smaller parties for a coalition government, while Golob, with his new movement, is seen as having good chances of winning the support of the country’s other centre-left parties for a possible coalition. 

Janša became prime minister in March 2020 after drawing the support of some lawmakers away from the previous centre-left coalition.

Before his third premiership began in 2020, Janša was prime minister from 2004 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013. 

However, critics say Janša has sought to curtail media freedom and pays scant respect to democratic values or the rule of law. A close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, he is also seen as trying to bring the media and judiciary under his control.

GNA