• Thursday, 19 December 2024

Right-wing leads as Slovenia's presidential poll heads to run-off

Right-wing leads as Slovenia's presidential poll heads to run-off
Slovenia's top two presidential candidates will face each other in a run-off next month after neither garnered enough support to win outright on Sunday. Right-wing politician Anže Logar, who served as foreign minister in the previous government, came out on top and will go up against lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar, a political independent, on November 13. Logar was in the lead with 33.92% of the vote, followed by Musar with 26.89%, the National Electoral Commission said after counting 99.39% of the votes. On Sunday night, Logar promised, among other things, "zero tolerance for corruption." It was already apparent none of the seven candidates for the largely symbolic office would achieve the necessary absolute majority after most of the votes were counted on Sunday evening in the Central European country. The election was disappointing for the centre-left government of Prime Minister Robert Golob, which has been in office since May. The presidential candidate Milan Brglez, who is supported by his alliance, came in third with 15.43 per cent of the votes. Golob signalled late on Sunday evening that he would support Pirc Musar in the second round: "Whoever wins from the centre left is less important than the centre left itself," he said. The election was seen as one of the first tests for Golob, who took power from right-wing nationalist Janez Janša in May. Logar is friends with Janša. Critics say Janša, who served a prime minister three times, sought to curtail media freedom and pays scant respect to democratic values or the rule of law in the EU country. He was ousted by Golob, a political newcomer, in last spring's parliamentary elections.