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This summary is provided by the STA:
Freedom Movement, wins election, centre-left gets majority
LJUBLJANA - Newcomer Robert Golob's Freedom Movement won the general election in a landslide, capturing 34.5% of the vote and an unprecedented 40 seats in the 90-member National Assembly, show near-final results after 98% of the votes have been counted. Preliminary turnout exceeded 68%, the highest since 2000. Prime Minister Janez Janša's Democrats (SDS) lost only one percentage point on 2018 to hit 23.6%, but because only five parties made it to parliament compared to nine four years ago, it increased its number of seats from 25 to 28. The NSi got eight seats on 6.9% of the vote, the SocDems ended with 6.6% and seven seats, and the left with 4.3% and five seats. The overall number of parties that made it to parliament dropped to five from nine as SAB, LMŠ, SNS, DeSUS and Connecting Slovenia failed to make the 4% threshold. Turnout exceeded 68%, the highest since 2000.
Freedom Movement president Golob declares victory
LJUBLJANA - Robert Golob, the head of the new Freedom Movement party, declared a victory that he said would bring freedom into the country. He said true strength lay only in a team, a group of people, and no individual can attain what a cohesive and committed team can. He highlighted the high voter turnout, one of the highest in Slovenia's history, saying this was what gave additional weight to the election outcome. He also noted this came with great responsibility. Civil society has also contributed to the high turnout, he said.
SDS head and departing PM says his party stronger post election
LJUBLJANA - The departing Prime Minister Janez Janša, the leader of the Democrats (SDS), congratulated the relative winner of the general election, Robert Golob, and his Freedom Movement party in his initial reaction to the election outcome. He assessed that the SDS will come out stronger of this election due to a higher number of seats in parliament. Janša thanked all the voters who voted for his party, the SDS's election team and coalition partners. He is glad the voter turnout was high, saying the party wished such a turnout would be seen in every election. This election has displayed people's dissatisfaction with the opposition, he said, as the opposition was "practically swept out of the parliament".
NSi hails improvement in election, will be constructive
LJUBLJANA - The coalition New Slovenia (NSi) secured third place in the election and leader Matej Tonin declared the party would likely be in the opposition in the next term, where it would be constructive as Slovenia is facing many challenges. "New Slovenia is not afraid of challenges that are ahead of us and we will, most probably in the opposition, work hard that Slovenia will be doing better in the future," he added. If it ends up in the opposition, the party will not be a "radical or disruptive opposition", he said, adding that the party had learned that "throwing spanners in the works takes you out of parliament."
SocDems satisfied over attainment of common goal
LJUBLJANA - Social Democrats (SD) leader Tanja Fajon said her party was satisfied over "the attainment of the common goal", meaning that the new government will no longer be centre-right but centre-left. "People have been hungry for change and we must enable this change now." She described the election outcome as an unusual situation since only a handful of parties have made it into parliament. The party has a plan for the future and lots of potential. They will be a "stable factor in the new government to help ensure not just normality but also social justice and democracy".
Left leader Mesec to seek vote of confidence after election flop
LJUBLJANA - As the support for the opposition Left's almost halved compared to the 2018 vote, Left coordinator Luka Mesec said that the result was bad and significantly below expectations. He thus decided to seek a vote of confidence in the entire leadership. The entire executive committee will offer its resignation to the party council on Monday, Mesec told the press after almost all votes have been counted, showing that the Left has won some 4.2% of the vote to get five MPs in the National Assembly. "The offer of resignation means that we will talk about what went wrong. The fact is that the result is not what we had expected," he added.
Unions expect new govt to relaunch social dialogue
LJUBLJANA - Trade unions believe the election outcome shows voters have rejected the direction in which the current Janez Janša government has led Slovenia. They want social dialogue to be restored and a social pact reached under the new government, while the trade union of teachers wants their strike demands to be addressed. The election result shows Slovenia will have a stable majority government which will be much more in favour of democratic decision-making and social dialogue, ZSSS trade union confederation head Lidija Jerkič told the STA.
Doctors expect new govt to tackle issues in healthcare
LJUBLJANA - Medical organisations expect the new government formed after the election to deal with issues in public healthcare system as a priority with one of their demands being proper pay for doctors. FIDES, the trade union of doctors and dentists, said the new government would have to move from promises to action as soon as possible. The Medical Chamber called for a health system that will provide timely, accessible, safe and quality health services to every citizen based on the solidarity principle.
Group led by man with Covid enters Electoral Commission HQ
LJUBLJANA - A group led by ex-soldier Ladislav Troha and dubbed the Conscious Residents of Slovenia came to the seat of the National Electoral Commission (DVK). After they failed to respond to calls to leave the premises and stop obstructing the commission's work, the DVK called the police. Troha is reportedly infected with coronavirus. The group Conscious Residents of Slovenia, consisting of coronavirus deniers and anti-vaccination protesters, stormed the headquarters of the Slovenian public broadcaster last September, managing to get into the newsroom studio before the police intervened.
Minister says persecution of Carinthian Slovenians has left fateful mark
KLAGENFURT, Austria - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch addressed a ceremony in Klagenfurt on Saturday to mark the 80th anniversary of the first wave of persecution of Carinthian Slovenians. She said that the persecution had been an injustice that had not yet been given a proper place in the Austrian and Carinthian history. However, she also pointed to steps towards reconciliation, noting the apology of the Austrian president on the 100th anniversary of the Carinthian plebiscite and the recent apology of Carinthia's Governor Peter Kaiser on the 80th anniversary of the persecution, both of which were delivered in Slovenian.
Sip Šempeter sales, profit up significantly in 2021
ŠEMPETER V SAVINJSKI DOLINI - Sip Šempeter, which specialises in the development and production of farm machinery, saw both sales revenue and profit rise in 2021 after a decline a year earlier. Net sales revenue rose by 30% to EUR 42.1 million and net profit jumped by 46% to EUR 4.2 million. According to director Uroš Korže, this is due to higher productivity, and optimisation and digitalisation of work processes as well as good cost management in the face of inflation.
Coronavirus infections continue to drop
LJUBLJANA - A total of 489 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Slovenia on Saturday in what is a continuation of a week-on-week drop in cases. According to the Health Ministry, 221 patients with Covid as their primary or secondary condition are hospitalised, up three from the day before, including 33 in intensive care, five more. Two patients died.
