Slovenians voted Sun., March 22 in a controversial and contentious parliamentary election.
Humber Et Cetera spoke with Žiga Bonča, a news journalist who primarily reports on politics with Televizija Slovenija (TV SLO), one sector of the country’s national public broadcasting organization Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV SLO), about the election and the tumultuous campaign.
Bonča explains how Slovenia's polarized electorate voted in an election that hinged on debates about key reforms and foreign policy amidst fiery allegations of foreign interference.
Humber ETC.: Could you give me a brief understanding of the importance of this election for the country.
Žiga Bonča: Every parliamentary election is extremely important for a country, as it reveals the direction in which the country will develop over the next four years of its mandate.
What is evident in Slovenia is that the electorate is highly polarized, and the central issue before the elections was whether Robert Golob's government could complete the projects and reforms it set out in 2022, for which it estimated it would need two terms to implement successfully. For example, healthcare and tax reforms are among such reforms.
The goal of this government was to introduce a property tax on citizens on the one hand and, as a result, reduce the tax burden on employees' salaries in Slovenia on the other hand, which it failed to achieve during this mandate.
The leader of the largest current opposition party, Janez Janša, warned before the elections about the damage that Golob’s government had allegedly caused to the country and promised citizens prosperity and changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia if they gave him enough votes to form a comfortable majority in parliament.
In short, during the campaign, both leaders simplified the choice to either continuing the current government's projects or changing course toward the measures promised by Janša.
Humber ETC.: What are the main differences between the platforms of the frontrunners, Robert Golob and Janez Janša?
Žiga Bonča: Primarily, the differences concern views on key reforms in Slovenia.
Golob advocates for public healthcare and insists on the separation of public and private healthcare, meaning that doctors working in the public system cannot work in private healthcare institutions without the consent of their superiors.
He also insists that all citizens must pay a contribution for long-term care, as it is a solidarity-based contribution intended to ensure that nursing home residents face lower monthly costs. He would also introduce a wealth tax first and then reduce taxes on wages.
Janša, on the other hand, believes that all doctors should be included in the healthcare system in order to shorten waiting lists.
He would freeze the payment of long-term care contributions for pensioners and prepare an analysis of the funds needed to sustain the system. He also proposes immediately reducing the tax burden on salaries by changing the income tax scale for citizens.
[These] are some examples where the president and the prime minister clearly disagree on the welfare state. However, there are also completely different views on many purely ideological issues, some of which date back to the Second World War.
Humber ETC.: What are you hearing from the citizens themselves about the scandal involving Janša?
Žiga Bonča: The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) confirmed that representatives of the Black Cube agency were present at Trstenjakova 8, Ljubljana, the headquarters of the SDS party.
At this stage, it is important to emphasize that the president of SDS (Janša) denied that the party was the client behind the wiretaps that were recorded and published on the website anti-corruption2026.com.
The revelation, however, certainly affected the outcome of the parliamentary elections, as SDS had consistently led public opinion polls in the two years preceding the elections and was widely considered the favourite. The exposure of this story in the final days before the elections significantly benefitted Golob's party, the Freedom Movement, and enabled it to turn the situation around.
Many believe that the released recordings expose corruption in Slovenia, but it appears that the prevailing view is that this represents unwanted foreign interference in Slovenian elections.
Golob and Janša are both politicians with so-called high volatility, meaning that their support has two sides. On one hand, they have extremely loyal voters among whom they enjoy a high level of trust; on the other hand, they have a large number of opponents who do not want either of them to lead the government again.
SDS voters are convinced that the footage reveals corruption, while Svoboda voters believe it is a dirty tactic by the SDS party.
Humber ETC.: Depending on who wins, what would this mean for the citizens of Slovenia and the country’s future?
Žiga Bonča: Based on the results of these elections, it is extremely difficult to identify a clear winner.
The two largest parties are almost evenly matched in terms of both the number of votes and the number of seats, and, given the distribution of seats among the other political parties, it appears that both Golob and Janša would have a very difficult time forming a stable government capable of completing a full four-year term.
The President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, will grant the mandate to form a government to the candidate who can demonstrate a parliamentary majority.
Golob is expected to invite all parties that have crossed the parliamentary threshold to cooperate - except SDS - and will attempt to form a coalition.
Meanwhile, Janša, the president of SDS, is already suggesting that the most likely scenario for Slovenia is early parliamentary elections.
It is therefore difficult to assess what these results will mean for the future of the country, as a political crisis is also possible.
Humber ETC.: Similarly, how might the country’s foreign policy change?
Žiga Bonča: From a foreign policy perspective, the main differences between the two sides are reflected in their attitudes toward the policies of the United States and Israel.
Left-wing parties consider Slovenia’s official recognition of Palestine to be of exceptional importance, while right-wing parties opposed it or, more precisely, obstructed the parliamentary session.
Center-left parties are highly critical of Israel’s actions in the Middle East, while center-right parties - especially SDS - maintain strong relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
SDS also has good relations with the American Republican Party, and some of its members attended the inauguration of President Donald Trump in the United States.
This interview was edited by Humber Et Cetera for clarity.
