Slovenia’s conservative leader Janez Janša is poised to return as prime minister after reaching a coalition agreement that could end weeks of political deadlock following the country’s tightly contested March election.
Janša announced that his Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) had struck a deal with New Slovenia and Anže Logar’s Democrats, creating a minority coalition that would hold 43 of the 90 seats in parliament. The bloc is expected to command a majority with the backing of five lawmakers from the right-wing Resni.ca movement.
The agreement comes after outgoing liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob, whose Freedom Movement narrowly finished ahead of Janša’s party in the election, failed to form a government. Janša could now be nominated as prime minister on Tuesday.
As reported by Denník N, the coalition is expected to prioritize tax cuts, decentralization, a reduction in bureaucracy, and what Janša has described as a cheaper and more efficient state.
“We will ensure a cheaper state, but with better quality,” Janša said in early May.
His return would mark a sharp change in direction after Golob’s liberal, pro-European administration. Janša has repeatedly criticized the spending priorities of the outgoing center-left government and has pledged a return to “Slovenian values,” including support for the “traditional family” and restrictions on state funding for NGOs.
The new arrangement may also prove fragile. Logar previously said that his Democrats party would not support a government led by Janša. Resni.ca leader Zoran Stevanović, who was elected speaker of parliament after the election, also insisted he would remain outside any government led by either Janša or Golob, which he has done, albeit securing a confidence-and-supply agreement.
“We are not going to a government led by Janša or Golob. We are sticking to that,” he told RTV Slovenia last month.
Resni.ca’s five seats have nevertheless given it significant leverage because of the near-even split between Slovenia’s two main political blocs. Stevanović’s election as speaker with 48 votes showed how both sides had sought to win the party’s support.
The movement has also injected a major foreign policy question into coalition negotiations. Stevanović said last month that Resni.ca would press ahead with a referendum on Slovenia’s membership of NATO.
“We promised the people a referendum on leaving NATO and that we will also hold this referendum,” he said. It is unclear whether such a policy was contingent on his party’s support for the incoming administration.
The March 22 election left Slovenia without a clear route to stable government. Golob’s Freedom Movement took 28.6 percent of the vote, while Janša’s SDS finished close behind on 27.95 percent. The result left only a few thousand votes between the two leading parties.
Several smaller parties entered parliament, including the NSi-SLS-Fokus list, the Social Democrats, the Democrats, Resni.ca, and the Levica-Vesna alliance. None of the two main blocs could reach the 46 seats needed for a majority without support from smaller parties.
Golob declared victory on election night but acknowledged the difficulty of forming a government.
“We all placed our trust in one party, regardless of what we believe. We all deserve a future, and I am here right now to say that with this mandate, we will do everything to make that future better for all our citizens,” he said, before failing to reach a coalition agreement with allies.
The post Janša set for return as Slovenia’s prime minister after right-wing coalition deal appeared first on Remix News.
Remix NewsRead More
T1
