SARAJEVO, April 20 (Reuters) – Slovenia’s outgoing prime minister, Robert Golob, on Monday said that his liberal Freedom Movement (GS), which narrowly won a parliamentary vote in March, would go into opposition after failing to secure a majority coalition, indicating that centre-right parties would form a government.
GS won 29 of the 90 seats in parliament, followed by the right-leaning Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of populist, pro-Trump ex-prime minister Janez Jansa on 28.
Along with smaller parties that have typically supported them, GS would have 40 MPs while SDS would have 43 seats, leaving both in need of support from elsewhere.
“We are looking forward to working in the opposition,” the state news agency STA quoted Golob as telling reporters after meeting the president, who invited the heads of all parties for consultations on a new government.
Golob, who came to power in 2022, aligned foreign policy more closely with that of Slovenia’s fellow European Union members, something Jansa could reverse.
Golob has also focused on social reforms, while Jansa wants to introduce tax breaks for businesses and cut funding for NGOs, welfare and media.
Jansa, who disputed the election results, said the SDS was not currently working to form a government but was prepared for all scenarios – to remain in opposition, form a government or contest another election.
“All three options are good for us, but which options are good for Slovenia is a different thing,” he told reporters after meeting President Natasa Pirc Musar, who had pledged to grant a mandate to form a government to any group that secured 46 seats in parliament.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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