PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN SLOVENIA

Abstract

The article deals with the parliamentary elections held in Slovenia on April 24, 2022. The extremely high voter turnout and the result of the voting would appear unprecedented in the political history of the country. A crushing victory (with an unusually high score: 41 mandates out of 90 in the State Assembly) was won by the new «Freedom Movement» created shortly before the elections and led by Robert Golob. However, a more in–depth analysis leads to a different conclusion: what happened is nothing else but déjà vu. This is the fourth time that Slovenian society has expressed its distrust of the political class and traditional parties, pinning all its hopes on the next messiah called upon to miraculously solve all problems. The election held is reviewed in terms of its outcome and the balance of power inside and outside the parliament. The result is also scanned in view of the present developments in Ukraine and Slovenia’s relationship with Russia. The Slovenian electorate’s attitude regarding the party structure is examined, and prospects of Robert Golob’s new cabinet are also assessed. It is concluded that the new government is able to change the situation in the country and make its policy more predictable. Nevertheless, it is unlikely to be able to disrupt the wellestablished algorithm of the Slovenian political system’s performance, especially at the times of extremely high turbulence in the international arena, to which small states are particularly sensitive.

Keywords

• parliamentary elections
• slovenia
• r. golob
• j. jansha
• russia
• eu