Polling opens for tight parliamentary elections in Slovenia this week
Polling for Slovenia’s parliamentary elections opened, with incumbent Prime Minister Robert Golob facing right-wing challenger Janez Janša in a tight and uncertain race.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob has accused foreign interference in elections, citing alleged actions by Israeli firm Black Cube linked to opposition leader Janez Janša.
Polls for the parliamentary elections in Slovenia are currently open and will remain so until the end of the day.
Briefing summary
Polling for Slovenia’s parliamentary elections commenced, featuring Prime Minister Robert Golob against Janez Janša. Analysts suggest a tight race with no clear majority anticipated in the 90-member parliament.
Golob accused “foreign services” of interference after reports surfaced linking Israeli firm Black Cube to alleged corruption involving Janša’s party. Janša’s SDS refutes any knowledge of Black Cube, labelling the situation as a leftist elite conspiracy.
Slovenia parliamentary elections: Governing liberals face right-wing conservatives
Polls for the hightly contested parliamentary elections in Slovania opened on Sunday, where the incumbent liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob takes on right-wing conservative Janez Janša.
The race is expected to be tight, and will decide whether the country stays on its centre-left course or sways towards the right. While Janša was initially polling ahead of Golob, the gap has recently closed.
Analysts predict that neither are likely to win a clear majority in the 90-member parliament, which would turn smaller parties into kingmakers.
The outcome “is completely uncertain, which is nothing unusual for Slovenia as the electorate has always been polarized,” Slovenian sociologist Samo Uhan said.
Golob has accused “foreign services” of interfering in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections after reports emerged that officials from Israeli private spy firm Black Cube allegedly visited the country in December and met the main opposition contender.
A Slovenian rights group, together with an investigative journalist and two researchers, in a press conference on Monday claimed Black Cube was behind videos showing alleged corruption and linked it to Janša’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).
The videos show them suggesting ways of influencing decision makers Golob’s centre-left coalition government in order to speed up procedures or gain contracts.
Janša’s SDS in a statement said they had never heard about Black Cube. He slammed “unprecedented corruption of the leftist elite” revealed through the videos.