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Parliamentary elections are to be held in Slovenia no later than 24 April 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 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. [13]
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%. [14] 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). [15] 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. [16] [17]
Two additional deputies are elected by the Italian and Hungarian minorities via the Borda count. [18] [14]
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. [19]
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. [20]
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. Meaning the next regular election must be held by 24 April 2026 at the latest, unless the Assembly is dissolved earlier.
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 | |||
| 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 | ||||
| IMNS | MPs of Italian and Hungarian national communities Poslanca Italijanske in madžarske narodne skupnosti | Ferenc Horváth Felice Žiža | 2 / 90 | 2 / 90 | Minority representatives | ||||||
| NEP | Independents Nepovezani poslanci | Miha Kordiš | 0 / 90 | 1 / 90 | Opposition | ||||||
| Party/List | Ideology | Leader/s | 2022 Result | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NS | New Social Democracy Nova socialdemokracija | Christian socialism | Andrej Magajna | 3,4% | 0 / 90 | |||
| SLS | Slovenian People's Party Slovenska ljudska stranka | Agrarianism | Tina Bregant | 3,4% | 0 / 90 | |||
| ZS | Greens of Slovenia Zeleni Slovenije | Green conservatism | Andrej Čuš | 3,4% | 0 / 90 | |||
| Resni.ca | Tru.th Resni.ca | Populism | Zoran Stevanović | 2,9% | 0 / 90 | |||
| ZD and NOT | For a Healthy Society and None of the above Za zdravo družbo in Nič od tega | For a Healthy Society Za zdravo družbo | Self-care | Gregor Kos | 1,8% | 0 / 90 | ||
| None of the above Nič od tega | Noneoftheaboveism | Boris Žulj Violeta Tomić | New | 0 / 90 | ||||
| SG | Party of Generations Stranka Generacij | Big tent | Vlado Dimovski | 1,7% | 0 / 90 | |||
| SNP | Our Future Naša prihodnost | Anti-corruption | Ivan Gale | 1,7% | 0 / 90 | |||
| Pirati | Pirate Party of Slovenia Piratska stranka Slovenije | Pirate politics | Jasmin Feratović | 1,6% | 0 / 90 | |||
| ND | Our Country Naša dežela | Agrarianism | Aleksandra Pivec | 1,5% | 0 / 90 | |||
| SNS | Slovenian National Party Slovenska nacionalna stranka | Nationalism | Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti | 1,5% | 0 / 90 | |||
| ZLS | For the People of Slovenia Za ljudstvo Slovenije | Borut Loboda | 0,7% | 0 / 90 | ||||
| LBP | List of Boris Popovič - Let's Digitize Slovenia Lista Borisa Popoviča | Digitalization | Boris Popovič | 0,4% | 0 / 90 | |||
| FOKUS | Focus of Marko Lotrič Fokus Marka Lotriča | Conservative liberalism | Marko Lotrič | New | 0 / 90 | |||
| GU | Voice of Pensioners Glas upokojencev | Pensioners' interests | Pavel Rupar | New | 0 / 90 | |||
| PVP | Prerod - Party of Vladimir Prebilič Prerod - Stranka Vladimirja Prebiliča | Social liberalism | Vladimir Prebilič | New | 0 / 90 | |||
| SKU | Community Skupnost | Localism | Marko Funkl | New | 0 / 90 | |||
| SMS | Youth Party – European Greens Stranka mladih - Zeleni Evrope | Green politics | Igor Jurišič | Didn't participate | 0 / 90 | |||
| SZ | Trust Zaupanje | Pensioners' interests | Karl Erjavec | New | 0 / 90 | |||
By early June 2025, the Greens of Slovenia unsuccessfully attempted to form a broader "Green Coalition" [21] , as the Vesna later joined the alliance with The Left, while Youth Party – European Greens were reported to be joining the Party of Generations. [22] On 17 June 2025, The Left and the Vesna announced that they would participate in the next election with a joint candidate list. [23] [24] There were also reports that the regionalist party Community might join the Vesna–The Left alliance. [25]
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. [26]
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. [27] Following the party congress on 13 September 2025, Vrtovec replaced Tonin as president with about 85% support. [28] [29] 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. [30]
In Freedom Movement, parliamentary speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič initially expressed interest in running for the party presidency, but later withdrew her candidacy. [31] As a result, Robert Golob secured another mandate as party president. [32]
Meanwhile, Suvereni 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. [33]
Three new parties were announced to be still in the making for the upcoming elections: the far-left We, Socialists! and the centre-left Party of Vladimir Prebilič on 18th October 2025 followed by the far-right Catholic nationalist party The Guard on 21st November 2025.
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.
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