Slovenian populist Janez Jansa, an admirer of Donald Trump, also known as “Marshal Twitto,” was achieving a particularly low result in this Sunday’s election compared directly to his rival Robert Golob, who led an ecology-focused opposition movement.
In the partial results, about 80% of the votes cast were shown by Golobin 33% and Jansan 25%.
The result should allow Golob to form a government, as two left-wing parties promised during the campaign that they would not join Jansa.
Turnout in the election was particularly high: it was expected to rise to close to 70%, well above the national average. The higher turnout was seen as positive for Robert Golob.
In January, Golob, the former chairman of the state-owned energy company Gen-I, which is launching green energy projects, took over the reins of a small pro-parliamentary party that did not have a parliamentary representation and held 2 to 3 percent of the vote.
The candidate managed to garner a lot of support and turn the campaign into a referendum on Jansa and his more authoritarian style of governance – emphasizing the media, NGOs, the judiciary and conflicts with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the de facto amnesty for some fraud and corruption offenses.
Reuters heard some people who voted in Ljubljana say they want change. “We don’t want to get these politicians in power anymore,” said the 58-year-old voter. “We want a new face, we want normal and stability,” he declared.