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Parliamentary elections are to be held in Slovenia on 15, 22 or 29 March 2026. It will determine the composition of the National Assembly, which determines the government of Slovenia.
The 2022 Slovenian parliamentary election resulted in a landslide victory for the Freedom Movement, a newly established liberal party led by Robert Golob, a former energy executive. The party won 41 seats, the highest number for a single party since Slovenian independence. The incumbent Slovenian Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Janez Janša, placed second with 27 seats, marking a significant defeat. New Slovenia – Christian Democrats came third with 8 seats, followed by the Social Democrats with 7 seats, and The Left with 5 seats. [1] Only five parties gained parliamentary representation, the fewest since independence; by contrast, nine parties won seats in the 2018 election. Following the election, the Freedom Movement formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats and The Left. [2] The coalition agreement was signed on 24 May 2022, and Robert Golob was elected Prime Minister and officially took office on 1 June 2022. [3]
Since the formation of Prime Minister Robert Golob's government in 2022, several ministers have resigned or been replaced due to disagreements, controversies, or new appointments.
Tatjana Bobnar, Minister of the Interior, resigned in December 2022 following disputes with the prime minister regarding police leadership and alleged interference in police operations. [4] She was replaced by former interior minister Boštjan Poklukar in February 2023. [5] Dominika Švarc Pipan resigned as Minister of Justice in February 2024 amid The Litijska Affair, concerning an overpaid purchase of a building intended as a Courthouse containing District Court of Ljubljana, Magistrate's Court of Ljubljana, and Labour and Social Court of Ljubljana. [6] She was succeeded by Andreja Katič. [7]
Several other ministers left or were replaced during the term, due to their disagreements with the prime minister. Including Danijel Bešič Loredan who resigned in July 2023, [8] Irena Šinko, dismissed as Minister of Agriculture in October 2023, [9] and Uroš Brežan, who resigned as Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning around the same time. [10] Marjan Šarec left the post of Minister of Defence after being elected to the European Parliament in 2024. [11] He was replaced by Borut Sajovic. [12]
In October 2025, both Minister of Justice Andreja Katič and Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar resigned following the death of Aleš Šutar, a case that shocked and angered the Slovenian public. The incident, which involved the fatal attack on a 48-year-old man who was defending his child from members of the Romani community, raised serious concerns about systemic shortcomings in the police and judicial response to violent crime from that community. The perpetrator, who had prior criminal records, was accused of brutally killing the victim, prompting widespread criticism of the ministries’ management of public safety and justice oversight. [13]
Under the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the National Assembly Elections Act (Zakon o volitvah v državni zbor), the President of Slovenia is responsible for calling elections to the National Assembly. In the case of regular elections, the President must issue a decree no earlier than 135 days and no later than 60 days before the end of the Assembly's four-year term. [14]
The term of the National Assembly begins with its first session, typically held shortly after election results are confirmed. The election itself must be held no later than two months before the expiry of the current term. [15]
If the National Assembly is dissolved early—for instance, due to the failure to elect a Prime Minister or a successful vote of no confidence—the President must call a snap election, which must be held within 60 days of the dissolution. There is no fixed rule on when the new term begins in such cases, but it follows the Assembly's first session after the vote.
For the 2022 parliamentary elections, the President signed the decree on 9 February 2022, setting the election date for 24 April 2022. The next regular or irregular election will be held on either 15, 22 or 29 March 2026, the date will be announced by the president in December 2025. [16]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 22 October | President Nataša Pirc Musar announces that the elections will take place on either 15, 22 or 29 March 2026. [17] |
In order to vote in elections to the National Assembly of Slovenia, individuals must meet specific criteria. Voting rights are general and equal, meaning that:
The principle of equal suffrage emphasizes that no individual's vote is more important than another's. The only exception to this principle applies to the voting rights of the Italian and Hungarian national communities, each of which is guaranteed one representative in the National Assembly. Voters from these communities also vote for other members of the National Assembly.
The voting rights of members of the Italian and Hungarian communities are specifically regulated. Only individuals belonging to these communities have the right to vote for and be elected as their respective community's representative; this right does not extend to all citizens. [18]
The 90 members of the National Assembly are elected by two methods. 88 are elected by open list proportional representation in eight 11-seat constituencies and seats are allocated to the parties at the constituency level using the Droop quota. The elected Deputies are identified by ranking all of a party's candidates in a constituency by the percentage of votes they received in their district. The seats that remain unallocated are allocated to the parties at the national level using the D'Hondt method with an electoral threshold of 4%. [19] Although the country is divided into 88 electoral districts, deputies are not elected from all 88 districts. More than one deputy is elected in some districts, which results in some districts not having an elected deputy (for instance, 21 of 88 electoral districts did not have an elected deputy in the 2014 elections). [20] Parties must have at least 35% of their lists from each gender, except in cases where there are only three candidates. For these lists, there must be at least one candidate of each gender. [21] [22]
Two additional deputies are elected by the Italian and Hungarian minorities via the Borda count. [23] [19]
The following parties and lists have seats in the current National Assembly before the election:
| Abbr. | Party/List | Ideology | Political position | Leader | 2022 result | Current seats | Status | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | ||||||||||
| GS | Freedom Movement Gibanje svoboda | Social liberalism | Centre to centre-left | Robert Golob | 34.5% | 41 / 90 | 39 / 90 | Governing coalition | |||
| SDS | Slovenian Democratic Party Slovenska demokratska stranka | National conservatism | Right-wing | Janez Janša | 23.5% | 27 / 90 | 24 / 90 | Opposition | |||
| NSi | New Slovenia Nova Slovenija | Christian democracy | Centre-right | Jernej Vrtovec | 6.9% | 8 / 90 | 8 / 90 | ||||
| SD | Social Democrats Socialni demokrati | Social democracy | Centre-left | Matjaž Han | 6.7% | 7 / 90 | 8 / 90 | Governing coalition | |||
| Levica and Vesna | Alliance of Levica and Vesna Zavezništvo Levice in Vesne | The Left Levica | Democratic socialism | Left-wing | Asta Vrečko Luka Mesec | 4.5% | 5 / 90 | 4 / 90 | |||
| Vesna - Green Party Vesna - zelena stranka | Green politics | Centre-left | Urša Zgojznik Uroš Macerl | 1.4% | 0 / 90 | 0 / 90 | Extra-parliamentary | ||||
| D. | Democrats Demokrati | Conservative liberalism | Centre to centre-right | Anže Logar | New | 0 / 90 | 3 / 90 | Opposition | |||
| MI! | We, Socialists! Mi, socialisti! | Socialism | Far-left | Miha Kordiš | New | 0 / 90 | 1 / 90 | ||||
| NB | National Bloc Nacionalni blok | Sovereign Suvereni | Sovereigntism | Right-wing | Dejan Kaloh | New | 0 / 90 | 1 / 90 | |||
| United Slovenia Movement Gibanje Zedinjena Slovenija | Nationalism | Far-right | Andrej Šiško | 0.1% | 0 / 90 | 0 / 90 | Extra-parliamentary | ||||
| Party of Slovenian People Stranka slovenskega naroda | Nationalism | Right-wing | Mihael Jarc | 0.1% | 0 / 90 | 0 / 90 | |||||
| IMNS | MPs of Italian and Hungarian national communities Poslanca Italijanske in madžarske narodne skupnosti | Ferenc Horváth Felice Žiža | 2 / 90 | 2 / 90 | Minority representatives | ||||||
| Party/List | Ideology | Leader/s | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS | The Guard Straža - Katoliška narodna stranka | Catholicism | Alen Koman | |||
| Volt | Volt Slovenia Volt Slovenija | European federalism | Borja Razinger | |||
By early June 2025, the Greens of Slovenia unsuccessfully attempted to form a broader "Green Coalition", [24] as the Vesna later joined the alliance with The Left, while Youth Party – European Greens were reported to be joining the Party of Generations, although they clarified in October 2025 that there is only a small possibility of them joining the new party. [25] On 17 June 2025, The Left and the Vesna announced that they would participate in the next election with a joint candidate list. [26] [27] There were also reports that the regionalist party Community might join the Vesna–The Left alliance after their congress in November 2025. [28]
On 3rd July 2025, the Democrats absorbed the party Concretely.
On 21 August 2025, For a Healhty Society and the satirical party None of the above also confirmed an electoral alliance. [29]
By late August 2025, it was reported that internal discussions within New Slovenia could lead to a leadership change, with either Jernej Vrtovec or Anton Harej emerging as possible successors to the incumbent president Matej Tonin. [30] Following the party congress on 13 September 2025, Vrtovec replaced Tonin as president with about 85% support. [31] [32] He also renewed talks about a possible coalition with the SLS, meanwhile the president of SLS Tina Bregant called for more unity on the right-wing and also invited Democrats and Focus of Marko Lotrič. [33] There were also rumours that after the failed Green Coalition, Greens of Slovenia might join the alliance.
In Freedom Movement, parliamentary speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič initially expressed interest in running for the party presidency, but later withdrew her candidacy. [34] As a result, Robert Golob secured another mandate as party president. [35]
Meanwhile, Suvereni, Party of Slovenian People and Gibanje Zedinjena Slovenija have been reported in political commentary as likely to form a joint nationalist coalition ahead of the elections. They advocate for Slovenia's exit from the European Union (so-called SLOEXIT) and a national referendum on NATO membership. [36]
On 15 October 2025, the centre-left Prerod - Party of Vladimir Prebilič was officially founded by Vladimir Prebilič, the mayor of Kočevje and former independent presidential candidate in the 2022 Slovenian presidential election. The party aims to promote decentralisation, regional development, and social solidarity.
Two new parties were announced to be still in the making for the upcoming elections: The far-right Catholic nationalist party The Guard (to be founded on 21 November 2025) and European federalist centre-left Volt Slovenia.
Opinion polling for the next Slovenian parliamentary election is being carried out continually by various organisations to gauge voting intention. The dates for these opinion polls range from the 2022 Parliamentary election on 24 April to the present day.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Parliamentary elections | |
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| Presidential elections | |
| European elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
See also: Elections in Yugoslavia | |
