Slovenia to inaugurate new parliament on 10 April after election mired in scandal

Published on 30/03/2026 - 19:16 GMT+2

Slovenia's recently elected parliament volition travel unneurotic connected 10 April opening the mode for pugnacious conjugation talks aft the liberals' razor-thin triumph this month, the EU country's president said connected Monday.

"As soon arsenic the authoritative results are published, I volition telephone the constitutive league of the caller parliament connected April 10," Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar told journalists aft her archetypal consultations with the leaders of 7 parties that entered parliament astatine the 22 March vote.

She warned existent geopolitical circumstances necessitate swift conjugation negotiations that volition enactment successful spot a caller authorities arsenic soon arsenic imaginable but admitted the existent positions of the 2 blocs successful parliament suggest "several rounds of talks are predictable."

Outgoing Prime Minister Robert Golob's wide Freedom Movement (GS) scored a choky triumph winning 29 seats successful the 90-seat parliament up of US President Donald Trump admirer Janez Janša's Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), that took 28 seats.

According to last results, nary of the parties combined with their allies could unafraid a majority, forcing them to talks with 2 autarkic parties, the anti-establishment enactment Resni.ca (Truth) and a blimpish enactment formed by erstwhile Janša state Anže Logar.

Golob launched conjugation talks past week, attended by Resni.ca and Logar, proposing the enactment of a nationalist unity conjugation to look the imaginable planetary economical situation caused by the US-Iran war.

"Through collaboration connected factual measures that volition payment radical and system we tin physique spot betwixt those that person been connected other banks successful the past," Golob said aft gathering Pirc Musar connected Monday.

Janša rejected immoderate conjugation talks claiming the results of the predetermination volition beryllium known lone erstwhile the irregularities denounced by his enactment are cleared out.

Pirc Musar reacted to Janša's claims saying "I cull immoderate doubts whatsoever astir the legitimacy of these elections."

By law, the president has to suggest to parliament a premier curate designate 30 days aft the inaugural session.

Backdrop of scandals

The 22 March elections took spot against a backdrop of scandals, erstwhile conscionable days earlier polling started video and audio recordings were leaked alleging misconduct by Golob and his interior circle.

Golob sent a missive to EU leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, raising concerns astir overseas power successful Slovenia's elections.

The recordings, published connected the anti-corruption 2026 website, reportedly amusement high-ranking officials discussing the acceleration of nationalist procurement processes, the transportation of authorities funds, and manipulations successful concern deals.

Among the astir contentious cases is the acquisition of a partially ruined gathering successful Ljubljana for €7.7 million, astir 5 times its 2019 acquisition price. The revelations person intensified scrutiny implicit alleged misuse of nationalist funds, power peddling and unit connected businesses and journalists.

Later, the Slovenian authorities decided against joining South Africa's genocide lawsuit against Israel astatine the International Court of Justice, contempt having antecedently expressed tendency to enactment successful the proceedings.

While Golob had initially been inclined to articulation the case, helium was yet swayed against doing truthful by nationalist information officials, section media reported.

They reportedly cautioned that joining the suit could jeopardise Slovenia's nationalist security, noting that galore of the country's cyber defence systems are of Israeli origin.