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SLOVENIA-VOTE
Slovenians vote in early election with rightwinger in front
LJUBLJANA, June 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Slovenians voted Sunday in an early
election which was set to see Janez Jansa’s anti-immigration party emerge as
victor after four years of centre-left rule.
The last poll published by the Dnevnik newspaper had Jansa’s Slovenian
Democrats (SDS) on just over 25 percent, well clear of its nearest rivals the
Social Democrats, who were on 12 percent.
Early turnout was slightly up on four years ago at 17.3 percent from 15.4
percent just after 0900 GMT and an apathetic showing was expected to bolster
Jansa’s chances.
However, with more than 40 percent of those surveyed saying they either
had not decided or would not reveal their preference, all bets were off in
the eurozone country of two million.
Jansa’s combative personality, strident anti-immigration rhetoric and
alliance with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban dominated the closing
stages of the campaign.
In the final TV debate on Thursday, Jansa effectively traded barbs with
comedian-turned-politician Marjan Sarec.
Sarec’s “anti-system” LMS party is on 11.9 percent in Dnevnik’s poll, a
weaker showing than earlier in the campaign but one which could yet leave him
well placed to play kingmaker if borne out.
The SMC party of outgoing Prime Minister Miro Cerar — whose shock
resignation in March prompted Sunday’s poll — was on just 9.3 percent.
Cerar threw in the towel after months of public-sector strikes and
internal wrangling within his coalition, with the last straw coming when a
supreme court verdict on a flagship infrastructure project went against the
government.
Some 1.7 million Slovenians are eligible to vote for 90 members of
parliament.
Polling stations were to close at 7pm (1700 GMT), with the first results
expected on Sunday evening.
– Fear of migrants –
Even if Jansa’s SDS party comes out ahead, he may still find it
difficult to put together a majority in parliament.
The parties in the outgoing coalition — the Social Democrats, the SMC
and the pensioners’ party DESUS — have all ruled out collaborating with the
SDS.
Sarec also recently told AFP that “spreading fear (of migrants) and
getting the prime minister of a neighbouring country (Orban) involved in our
elections has crossed all red lines and I and our members do not see
ourselves in such a constellation”.
Last month Orban said an SDS victory “would ensure the survival of the
Slovenian people”.
According to Slovenian media reports, Jansa’s media campaign has also
been boosted by investments totalling some two million euros ($2.3 million)
from Hungarian media companies in a TV station and newspaper co-owned by SDS.
Sarec and other opponents say this may be a violation of campaign finance
laws but SDS insist the investments are above board.
– Instability ahead? –
Jansa’s political career stretches back to the country’s struggle for
independence from Yugoslavia and has already seen its fair share of drama. In
2013 he was forced to step down from a second term as prime minister over a
corruption scandal and competed in the 2014 elections from jail — the
verdict was later overturned.
Like rightwing leaders elsewhere he has adopted a combative presence on
Twitter and has used it to defend his alliance with Orban.
“Thanks to its (migration) policy, Hungary is a safe country while
Belgium, due to its wrong policy, isn’t,” read a recent tweet from Jansa, who
first served as prime minister from 2004-08.
Almost 500,000 migrants crossed Slovenia in late 2015 and early 2016
along the so-called Balkan route.
During the campaign, Jansa effectively evoked memories of the crisis to
his advantage despite the fact that all but a handful of the migrants
continued to northern Europe.
For the first time in over a decade, elections will take place against a
backdrop of strong economic growth rather than financial crisis or recession.
But Cerar’s government has not reaped any political benefit from the
turnaround, with his rivals focusing on growing hospital waiting lists and
demands for higher pensions and wages and a better business environment.
Analysts say that while parties may prove more open to cooperation once
the results are counted, in the near future political instability may well
persist, whether under a rightwing, Jansa-led government or one from the
centre-left.
BSS/AFP/RY/1825 hrs