Slovenians were voting in parliamentary elections yesterday, choosing whether to keep Prime Minister Janez Jansa — bruised by a corruption claim and criticized as too powerful — or to turn to the leftist opposition.
Jansa’s center-right Slovenian Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats are virtually tied, each projected to get 26 percent to 29 percent.
Neither is expected to win outright and would likely need to seek allies after the vote to ensure a majority in parliament — and so earn a mandate to form a new Cabinet.
“The bad news is that Slovenians will likely follow a long political chess game” of postelection bargaining, Tanja Staric, a political commentator, wrote in the daily Delo.
The opposition Social Democrats, led by the telegenic Borut Pahor, have some allies in two other leftist parties — but that may not be enough.
The standing of Jansa’s partners is unclear. The Pensioners’ Party and even a nationalist, Zmago Jelincic, could become kingmakers, holding the seats that would give either major party a majority.
Whoever wins, Slovenia’s foreign policy, its market economy and generally Western democratic norms are not expected to be significantly affected.
The former Yugoslav country of 2 million is a member of the EU and NATO. It uses the euro and has living standards similar to those in Italy.
But Jansa’s critics contend that his grip on power is too firm — some compare him to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — and that that endangers the nation’s democracy.
He was recently accused by a Finnish TV station of taking a bribe to grant a military contract to the Finnish firm Patria.
Jansa dismissed the accusations as “absurd and untrue,” but the opposition insists the deal remains murky.
Last year, hundreds of local journalists publicly blasted Jansa for curbing the freedom of the press, claiming that he orchestrated the appointment of editors loyal to him.
His fight against tycoons has been welcomed by supporters, but the opposition says he only targets political rivals.
Jansa points to some favorable economic figures: Slovenia’s economic growth is 5.5 percent and inflation — though 6 percent — is kept from rising further. The average salary is 1,370 euros (US$1,975) a month and unemployment is 6.5 percent. The opposition says the country can do much better.
“I think that Jansa is the only logical choice,” said Srecko Kos, who sells shoes at Ljubljana’s market. “The economy is in a good condition, we live well. That’s enough.”
Ana Trebotnik, 36, was a little more disillusioned: “Yeah, [Jansa] is the best. His top quality? The weakness of the opposition.”
About 1.7 million people are eligible to vote for 90 parliament members.
The first official results were expected later yesterday.
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