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The recount of the parliamentary elections in Slovenia confirms the victory of the new Movement for Freedom (GS) party, headed by the liberal environmentalist Robert Golob. The results dealt a heavy defeat to Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS) party, who was seeking a fourth term in office.
A liberal and environmentalist party unseats the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Jansa, considered by some as the Slovenian “Trump”.
With around 34% of the votes, the Movement for Freedom (GS) prevailed over the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party, of Jansa, which obtained 24% support, as confirmed by local authorities after the parliamentary elections on Sunday, March 24. april.
This is a higher percentage than the one predicted by the polls that days before predicted a close contest. The GS thus reaches 40 seats in the 90-seat Parliament, and the SDS obtains 28.
Congrats to the Freedom Movement Party & Robert Golob for yesterday’s decisive win in Slovenia. While the French election is grabbing headlines, this victory of a pro-environmental, pro-European Union party marks another defeat for far-right populism.https://t.co/9RFNW6kRhP
— Rep. Jack Lewis (@RepJackLewis) April 25, 2022
The results give the newly created Freedom Movement a chance to form the next government, but it will have to go to a coalition. Predictably, it will do so with smaller left-wing groups that add up to 12 seats in the Legislative.
The winning party that is committed to a transition to green energy is led by Robert Golob, a former executive of a state energy company that launched environmental projects in this area.
“It does not mean that we are the only ones, it means that people really want a change (…) So today people dance, but tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow we start working hard to justify trust,” he said through a video Golob, who is believed to have recently contracted Covid-19, to the cheering crowd at his party headquarters.
Prime Minister and Eurosceptic leader Janez Jansa, whose bid for a fourth term in office has been frustrated, admitted defeat, although he said his SDS movement had won more votes than ever.
“The results are what they are. Congratulations to the relative winner,” the premier told his followers.
“We want new faces, normality and stability”
While the liberals described the elections as a referendum on the future of Slovenia, a member nation of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); Dozens of people ratified that they want a change.
“We don’t want these politicians in power anymore (…) The last two years have been desperate in every way. We want new faces, we want normality and stability,” said Milena, a 58-year-old woman who voted in Ljubljana, the capital.
Jansa, 63, an ally of Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has clashed with Brussels over issues including media freedom and has been accused by opponents of undermining democratic standards, though he rejects this.
An admirer of former US President Donald Trump, the eurosceptic leader is accused of pushing the country towards right-wing populism since he returned to the post of prime minister in 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Slovenia’s populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa loses national election as the environmentalist Freedom Movement party won more votes than his SDS party, according to preliminary figures from election authorities pic.twitter.com/08zDo2pCCF
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) April 25, 2022
Liberal supporters have argued that if Jansa were re-elected, it would push the traditionally moderate nation further away from the EU’s “core” democratic values and towards other populist regimes.
Reflecting the great interest in these elections in the nation, the turnout registered at the polls was higher than usual: about 67% among the 1.7 million people eligible to vote, compared to 52% who voted in the last elections of 2018.
The majority has now opted for a party that advocates the defense of the environment and sustainable development.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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