Political newcomer beats veteran Slovenian PM Janez Jansa in divisive elections
- Opposition liberal party convincingly won Sunday’s parliamentary election in Slovenia
- Veteran PM Janez Jansa had faced accusations of sliding toward authoritarian rule
Political newcomer liberal Robert Golob defeated Slovenia’s three-time Prime Minister conservative Janez Jansa in elections in a country split by bitter political divisions over the rule of law.
Golob’s Freedom Movement (GS), which he launched only in January, has built on anger with Jansa’s regime in the former Yugoslav state.
The opposition accuses Jansa of having tried to undermine democratic institutions and press freedoms since he returned to power in 2020.
With almost all the votes counted in the country of around two million people, Freedom Movement (GS) stood at 34.5 per cent of the vote compared to 23.6 per cent for Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic Party.
“Our objective has been reached: a victory that will enable us to take the country back to freedom,” Golob told jubilant supporters late Sunday.
“People want changes and have expressed their confidence in us as the only ones who can bring those changes,” he said earlier via a live-stream from his home where he was in isolation after contracting Covid-19.
