At the regular elections to the 90-seat National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, set to take place on Sunday, 15 October, six parliamentary parties and five non-parliamentary parties in all electoral units will contend for the electorate's votes, while five other non-parliamentary parties and six individuals will run only in a few electoral units. Representatives of the Italian and Hungarian minorities, for each of whom one parliamentary seat is reserved, will also run in the elections. From a total of 1,001 candidates, who will bid for 88 seats in the National Assembly, 23.5 percent are women, the highest number to date. On average, the candidates in this year's elections are also the youngest so far.
The central political event of this year in the country - the fourth multi-party and the third parliamentary elections since Slovenia's independence - will take place at 3,500 polls around the country. Eighty-eight of the 90 MPs will be elected in eight electoral units and 88 electoral districts on the basis of a system involving proportional representation with an element of the majority system, whilst the two representatives of the Italian and Hungarian minorities will be elected according to the majority voting system. The main novelties of the new electoral system include the abolition of national lists and the four-percent threshold.
According to the timetable of activities related to this year's parliamentary elections adopted by the National Electoral Commission, the election campaign started on 15 September, while nominations were filed up until midnight on 20 September.
By 20 September all six parliamentary parties and five non-parliamentary parties had filed their lists of candidates in all eight electoral units, while the five other non-parliamentary parties and six individuals will run in only a few electoral units.
Among the parties running in all electoral units are the
parliamentary parties: the SLS+SKD Slovenian People's Party (SLS+SKD);
the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS); the Liberal Democracy
of Slovenia (LDS); the United List of Social Democrats of Slovenia
(ZLSD); the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS); and
the Slovenian National Party (SNS). In addition, there are the
non-parliamentary parties - the Democratic Party of Slovenia (DS), the
New Party (NOVA), the New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi),
the Youth Party of Slovenia (SMS), and the United List of Green
Parties (Slovenian Greens and Green Alternative of Slovenia). The
Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS) and the New Slovenia -
Christian People's Party (NSi) have signed an agreement on the
formation of Coalition Slovenia whereby the two parties agree to
co-operate at the elections.
www.gov.si/elections
Five non-parliamentary parties will run only in certain electoral units: Go, Slovenia!; the Communist Party of Slovenia; Women's Voice Slovenia; the Regional Party of Styria; and the Democratic Action Party of Slovenia. There are six independent candidates running as well: Hinko Stakne; Peter Črtomir Gorjanc; Franc Planinšič; Mojca Ferle Brezavšček; Valter Skok; and Mirko Justin. Representatives of the Italian and Hungarian minorities, for each of whom one parliamentary seat is reserved by law, will also run in the elections. For the representative of the Italian minority a candidacy has only been filed by the present MP Roberto Battelli, whilst for the representative of the Hungarian minority in the National Assembly candidacies have been filed by Janez Somi, Maria Pozsonec (present MP), Jožef Kocon jr., Jozsef Mursics and Jožef Hančik.
Official lists of candidates for this year's parliamentary elections were published in Slovenia's main daily papers Delo, Dnevnik and Večer on 30 September.
Most Women Candidates So Far
A total of 1,001 candidates, with an average age of 42.2 years, will contend for 88 seats in the National Assembly at this year's general elections. Among the candidates there are 70 current MPs, 12 ministers, eight state secretaries and 41 mayors, the initial figures from the National Statistical Office of 30 September indicate.
The initial figures also indicate that 23.5 percent of the candidates are women. This is the highest proportion to date; at the elections in 1996 18.7 percent of candidates were women, while in 1992 there were 14.8 percent. The total number of candidates at this year's elections is 299 less than in 1996 and 466 less than in 1992. However, on average, the candidates at this year's elections are younger than ever. The average age - 42.2 years - is three years less than in 1996 and 2.3 years less than in 1992. The 2000 elections see 13.5 percent of candidates below the age of 31. Information on the education level of candidates indicates that the majority (60 percent) of candidates have completed some form of higher education.
Leading the list of parties with the greatest number of candidates is the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS), with 88. In joint second place are the United List of Social Democrats of Slovenia (ZLSD) and the New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi) each with 87, followed by the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS) and SLS+SKD Slovenian People's Party (SLS+SKD) with 86.
Live Public Presentation of Unofficial Results
According to Marko Golobič, secretary of the Republic Electoral Commission, this year's elections are well organised. "We have practice not only through elections to the National Assembly, but also all other elections and referenda. We therefore do not expect any special difficulties in terms of the organisation itself. The elections will be held in October, thus we are also less worried about the weather conditions than in previous years when they were held in November", he emphasised in comments for our magazine. The cost of this year's election is expected to be SIT 550 million.
A large part of the expenses will stem from the public unofficial presentation of results, which will occur in the Cankarjev dom Cultural and Congress Centre and simultaneously on the Internet, where it will be possible to observe live and in real time the establishment of unofficial results on the evening of Sunday, 15 October. The official results of voting will finally be known on 25 October.
List of Political Parties Running in the 2000 Elections (Alphabetical Order)
In All Electoral Units
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS)
parliamentary party
President: Janko Kušar
Headquarters: Kersnikova 6, Ljubljana
www.desus.si
Democratic Party of Slovenia (DS)
non-parliamentary party
President: Mirko Macher
Headquarters: Linhartova 13, Ljubljana
www.sgn.net/~zoranp/ds/ds.htm
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS)
parliamentary party
President: Dr Janez Drnovšek
Headquarters: Trg republike 3, Ljubljana
www.2000.lds.si
New Party (NOVA)
non-parliamentary party
Co-Presidents: Gorazd Drevenšek, Edo Reven
Headquarters: Tržaška cesta 2, Ljubljana
www.nova-stranka.si
New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi)
non-parliamentary party
President: Dr Andrej Bajuk
Headquarters: Kogojeva ulica 2, Ljubljana
www.nsi.si
Slovenian National Party (SNS)
parliamentary party
President: Zmago Jelinčič
Headquarters: Tivolska 13, Ljubljana
www.sns.si
SLS+SKD Slovenian People's Party (SLS+SKD)
parliamentary party
President: Dr Franc Zagožen
Headquarters: Beethovnova 4, Ljubljana
www.sls.si
Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDS)
parliamentary party
President: Janez Janša
Headquarters: Komenskega 11, Ljubljana
www.sds.si
United List of Green Parties
(Slovenian Greens and Green Alternative of Slovenia)
non-parliamentary party
Slovenian Greens - President: Štefan Han,
Headquarters: Komenskega 11, Ljubljana
Green Alternative of Slovenia
President: Metka Filipič,
Headquarters: Komenskega 11, Ljubljana
www.zeleni.si
United List of Social Democrats of Slovenia (ZLSD)
parliamentary party
President: Borut Pahor
Headquarters: Levstikova 15, Ljubljana
www.zlsd.si
Youth Party of Slovenia (SMS)
non-parliamentary party
President: Dominik S. Černjak
Headquarters: Tržaška 2, Ljubljana
www.sms-mladi.com
In Certain Electoral Units
Communist Party of Slovenia (GČP)
non-parliamentary party
Secretary General: Marek Lenardič
Headquarters: P. O. Box 63, Lesce
Democratic Action Party of Slovenia (SDAS)
non-parliamentary party
Headquarters: Cesta dveh cesarjev 63,
Ljubljana
Go, Slovenia! (NPS)
non-parliamentary party
President: Blaž Svetek
Headquarters: Jurčkova cesta 69, Ljubljana
Regional Party of Styria (DSŠ)
non-parliamentary party
President: Albert Erjavičnik
Headquarters: Smetanova ulica 53, Maribor
Women's Voice Slovenia (GŽS)
non-parliamentary party
President: Monika Piberl
Headquarters: Leona Zalaznika 12, Maribor