Jernej Pikalo: There are many reasons for the changes

Ljubljana, 18 October

The official results of the elections are in, and now there is a lot of talk and speculation about what the future governing coalition will look like. We spoke with Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Social Science Dr. Jernej Pikalo about the reasons for the changes which the voters have chosen.

Is it possible at this point to talk about what the governing coalition will look like?

At this moment it still isn’t possible to say what it will be like, as negotiations are still being carried out at full pace. All of the actors are playing their strategic roles, so despite some reports, we cannot rule out the formation of any coalition. The future holder of the mandate will have to form a coalition on the basis of his own strategic political thinking, not just short-term but long-term as well. If he forms a broad coalition which covers the political spectrum, it will ideologically force certain parties which are not in the coalition to the periphery, and thus destroy and neutralize the coalition. If he forms a more uniform coalition, he will have a stronger and more homogenous opposition.

Does the victory of centre-right orientated parties bring any major changes to Slovene politics and the Slovene economy?

All of the parties were elected to parliament on the basis of their pre-election programmes, in which they defined the main points of their programmes. We voters have put faith in the parties on the basis of these programmes, and therefore it would be right for the parties to keep their promises. There will probably be some changes, but I do not expect any radical changes, since both politics and the economy are part of their larger milieus, and are therefore subject to various structural imperatives which limit their decision-making capacity.

Where do you see the reasons for the political changes?

There are probably many reasons for the political changes, and only a combination of different reasons could have led to the present situation. One of the reasons which is heard most often is the fact that the voters were tired of the former government. I can agree with that, especially because I have the feeling that a lot of voters who do not vote along ideological lines switched parties. It is important to be seen as competent to run the country, and the former opposition managed to do so in the latter stages of the campaign. The campaigns were waged by the parties with greater or smaller success; I even think that among the larger parties no major mistakes were evident, except possibly that some of them had no real message for the voters.

Jernej Pikalo: There are many reasons for the changes

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