The former Slovenian foreign minister Anze Logar is given the lead in the first round of the presidential election, Sunday, October 23. According to the almost final results covering 99.9% of the ballots counted, the 46-year-old Conservative politician won nearly 34% of the vote, against just under 27% for the lawyer Natasa Pirc Musar, 54.
The voters of the small alpine country of 2 million inhabitants will return to the polls on November 13 to decide between them.
Mr. Logar is one of the main tenors of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of former Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who was ousted in the spring after a controversial mandate peppered with numerous demonstrations. After this heavy defeat in the legislative elections, his election would restore color to the Conservative camp.
Voice reserves
If he did “a moderate campaign” according to his terms and presented himself as an independent candidate, he invited Mr. Jansa to his headquarters on Sunday evening to celebrate this first place. Anxious to bring together voters from all sides “to prepare the future together”Anze Logar welcomed the success of this message “with the citizens”.
The battle with his opponent, Natasa Pirc Musar, looks tight. It was certainly largely outdistanced on Sunday but has significant reserves of votes. Liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob, who defeated Janez Jansa in April, gave him his support after the defeat of his own candidate, the Social Democrat Milan Brglez (15.4% of the vote).
“We know what our duty is: without qualms (…), we line up behind the best candidate” who shares “values close to ours”reacted Mr. Golob on public television.
Above “party quarrels”
On the strength of this rallying, Natasa Pirc Musar, hopes to become the first woman to become the head of this country from the former Yugoslavia, a member of the European Union since 2004. “I think the time has come for Slovenia”she said while voting, saying to herself above “party squabbles”.
This former official of the Slovenian Data Protection Authority has made a name for herself by representing the interests of the former American First Lady Melania Trump, originally from Slovenia. Target of attacks during the campaign because of the lucrative investment activities of her husband, the lawyer had been dubbed by Milan Kucan, the first to have occupied the post of head of state in independent Slovenia in 1991.
The winner of the ballot will succeed Borut Pahor, 58, who served two five-year terms. Nicknamed the “Instagram” president, this ex-model and member of the Social Democratic Party has more than 134,000 subscribers on the social network, where he often posts private images.