With the liberal lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar, Slovenia gets a woman as head of state for the first time. The 54-year-old received 53.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s presidential election, the state election commission said after counting 90 percent of the vote. Her opponent in the second round, the conservative former foreign minister and opposition politician Anže Logar (46), won 46.1 percent.
Although Logar did not want to admit defeat despite the large backlog, Pirc Musar was already cutting a cake at her campaign headquarters around 8:30 pm. She announced that she wanted to pursue a unifying policy. As a first official act, she will invite all party leaders in the country to a meeting.
Logar won the first round of voting on October 23 with almost 34 percent of the vote, Pirc Musar, who came in second, got about 27 percent. She thus missed out on a painful defeat for Prime Minister Golob, but his candidate, ex-Parliamentary Speaker Milan Brglez, finished in third place.
Candidate harms proximity to controversial former Prime Minister
During the election campaign, Logar presented himself independently of his right-wing conservative Democratic Party (SDS). He announced his commitment to dialogue and overcoming polarization as president, relying in particular on his foreign policy experience. Janez Janšas, a longtime confidant, was not very convincing with his distancing from the controversial former prime minister. SDS membership proves to be the biggest hurdle for Logar to become the first conservative politician to win the presidency. Although he is considered a moderate politician, critics accuse him of always sticking to the party line and never uttering a word of criticism against the SDS boss and the party’s increasingly radical course.
His opponent Pirc Musar, with her liberal worldview, gained access to a wider pool of voters. As a former freedom officer, she had made a name for herself for years with harsh criticism of Janša and presented herself as a champion of democracy and human rights during the election campaign.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
