Parliamentary elections were held in Slovenia on 24 April 2022 to elect all 90 members of the National Assembly.
The ruling Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), led by prime minister Janez Janša, conceded and was defeated by Robert Golob and his Freedom Movement (GS). New Slovenia (NSi) placed third, and was followed by the Social Democrats (SD) and The Left (Levica), both of which suffered some losses. The Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia, Party of Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian National Party and the List of Marjan Šarec fell below the 4% electoral threshold and won no seats. Turnout stood at 70%, a substantial increase compared to previous two elections (52.63% in 2018 and 51.71% in 2014). Internationally, the election has been described as a defeat for Janša and right-wing populism, Janša being a supporter of former US president Donald Trump and an ally of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Following the election, the Freedom Movement formed a three-party centre-left coalition government with the Social Democrats and The Left, with Robert Golob heading the 15th Government as the next prime minister.
Electoral system The 90 members of the National Assembly are elected through two methods. Eighty-eight seats are elected by open list proportional representation in eight 11-seat constituencies and seats, with seats allocated to parties at the constituency level using the Droop quota.
Elected Deputies are identified by ranking all of a party's candidates in a constituency based on the percentage of votes they received in their respective districts. Seats that remain unallocated are then allocated to the parties at the national level using the D'Hondt method, with an electoral threshold of 4%.National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia State Election Commission
Although the country is divided into 88 electoral districts, deputies are not elected from all 88 districts. In practice, more than one deputy is elected in some districts, resulting in other districts having no elected deputy. For instance, 21 of the 88 electoral districts had no elected deputy in the 2014 elections.
Parties must ensure that at least 35% of their candidate lists represent each gender, except in cases where a list contains only three candidates, in which case at least one candidate of each gender is required.Electoral system IPU
Two additional deputies are elected by the Italian and Hungarian minorities using plurality voting.
Campaign President Borut Pahor signed a decree for the election to be held on 24 April 2022. Pahor explained that he will nominate a prime minister based on the composition of the parliament, requesting leaders of parliamentary groups to put forward at least 46 signatures. Prime Minister Janez Janša tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day.
Following the decision of the ECtHR in The Committee for the organization and registration of the Romanian Communist Party v. Romania case in which the ECtHR confirmed Romania's decision to refuse to register a political party that did not distance itself from the former communist regime, Vili Kovačič asked the Constitutional Court to decide on the constitutionality of The Left's program and actions of The Left and Social Democrats. The latter is the legal successor of the League of Communists of Slovenia. The Constitutional Court rejected Vili Kovačič's proposal to decide on constitutionality of The Left's program and actions of The Left and Social Democrats as groundless.
Aleksandra Pivec submitted 1500 signatures to support Our Country's candidate lists. She also stated that MPs Branko Simonovič and Ivan Hršak of DeSUS may join her party. DeSUS and LIDE decided to form a joint candidate lists for the election. Karl Erjavec, former leader of DeSUS, said in an interview that DeSUS is a failed party and that connecting with LIDE will not have a positive effect in the election. He was critical of the DeSUS MPs and Igor Zorčič, who did not support the vote of no confidence after which Erjavec would become prime minister. He added, that he might re-enter politics, but not through DeSUS, and that he has several offers from other parties. The LIDE party authorized party president Igor Zorčič to form a joint list of candidates with DeSUS and the LDS. Later LIDE announced that it would not participate in the election. DeSUS did not want broader coalition with other parties and therefore rejected an agreement offered by LIDE. LIDE's leader Igor Zorčič stated that party will skip parliamentary election and focus on presidential and local elections, which will be held later this year. DeSUS announced that it will run in the elections on its own after refusing to form a joint list with the LIDE.
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption announced that it had not found any violations regarding the vacations of Prime Minister Janez Janša with some businessmen and stopped the investigation. After the investigation of the procurement of protective equipment in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) found a violation of the integrity by the Minister of the Economy Zdravko Počivalšek. Počivalšek stated that he will not resign and that the KPK's opinion tells more about the KPK itself. Robert Golob found himself under police investigation after he was accused of receiving too high a salary as a CEO of the state-owned GEN-I and therefore violating the so-called "Lahkovnik" Act, which regulates the salaries of management bodies of state-owned companies.
Speaker Igor Zorčič, former member of the Modern Centre Party, founded a new party called Liberal Democrats. Robert Golob, former State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy in Prime Minister Drnovšek's cabinet and CEO of GEN-i, was elected president of the Green Actions Party, renaming it to the Freedom Movement. Igor Zorčič announced that the Liberal Democrats will not form a coalition with the Freedom Movement, which was a mutual decision of both parties. Allegedly, Freedom Movement's leader Golob only offered Zorčič to be a candidate on his party's candidate list, and not a joint list. Whistleblower Ivan Gale became president of the Our Future party, and former European Commissioner Violeta Bulc was elected vice president. Smiljan Mekicar of Good Country party confirmed that they will form a joint list with Gale's Our Future party and some other parties and lists.
RTV Slovenia, the public broadcaster, rejected Freedom Movement's request to recognize them as a parliamentary party. RTV Slovenia recognized Aleksandra Pivec's Our Country party as a parliamentary party, which by law allows it to participate in electoral debates with other parliamentary parties. RTV Slovenia recognized Our Country as the successor to DeSUS, because Aleksandra Pivec was elected president of DeSUS, but then resigned and founded a new party, which was joined by several former members of DeSUS. According to RTV Slovenia, the situation was the same as in the case of the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek before the 2014 elections. Alenka Bratušek was elected president of Positive Slovenia, then resigned and founded a new party, which included several members of Positive Slovenia. RTV Slovenia granted the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek parliamentary status. Freedom Movement was granted parliamentary status after it won a suit against RTV Slovenia for political discrimination.
Parties and coalitions The following parties and lists have seats in the current National Assembly before the election: +Party/ListMain ideologyLeaderSeats in the National Assembly 2018 election Before the 2022 electionSDSSlovenian Democratic PartySlovenska demokratska stranka Janez Janša LMŠList of Marjan ŠarecLista Marjana Šarca Social liberalism Marjan Šarec SDSocial DemocratsSocialni demokrati Social democracy Tanja Fajon LevicaThe LeftLevica Democratic socialism Luka Mesec NSiNew SloveniaNova Slovenija Christian democracy Matej Tonin SABParty of Alenka BratušekStranka Alenke Bratušek Social liberalism Alenka Bratušek DeSUSDemokratična stranka upokojencev Slovenije Pensioners' interests PoSLet's Connect SloveniaPovežimo Slovenijo ConcretelyKonkretno Liberalism Zdravko Počivalšek Slovenian People's Party Conservatism Greens of Slovenia Zeleni Slovenije Green conservatism Andrej Čuš New People's Party Nova ljudska stranka Conservatism New Social DemocracyNova socialdemokracija Christian socialism Andrej Magajna SNSSlovenian National PartySlovenska nacionalna stranka Nationalism Zmago Jelinčič GSFreedom MovementGibanje svoboda Green liberalism Robert Golob New NDOur CountryNaša dežela Agrarianism Aleksandra Pivec New
Other parties List of non-parliamentary parties contesting the electionParty/List Ideology Leader/sPiratiPirate Party of SloveniaPiratska stranka Slovenije Pirate politics Boštjan TavčarVesnaVesna – Green PartyVesna - zelena stranka Green politics Urša Zgojznik & Uroš MacerlResni.caTru.thResni.ca Populism Zoran StevanovićDOMHomeland LeagueDomovinska liga Nationalism Bernard BrščičDD–NP Good Country–Our Future joint list Good Country (DD)Dobra država Anti-corruption Smiljan Mekicar Naša prihodnost Ivan GaleZOSLiberate Slovenia AllianceZavezništvo Osvobodimo Slovenijo (ZSi)Gibanje Zedinjena Slovenija Nationalism Andrej Šiško People's Party of Labor (NSD)Narodna stranka dela Nationalism Marijan Poljšak Aleksander Kamenik's Party (SAK)Stranka Aleksandra Kamenika Animal rights Aleksander Kamenik Party of Slovenian People (SSN)Stranka Slovenskega narodaNationalism Aleksander ZamudaZLSFor the People of SloveniaZa ljudstvo Slovenije Anica Bidar
Parties that fulfill the criteria +XConstituency with submitted list of candidatesRejected list of candidates Party/AllianceLeaderSupportConstituency12345678NSiNew Slovenia - Christian DemocratsMatej Tonin3 MPsXXXXXXXXSNSSlovenian National PartyZmago Jelinčič Plemeniti3 MPsXXXXXXXXDeSUSDemocratic Party of Pensioners of SloveniaLjubo JasničXXXXXXXXRESNI.CATru.thZoran StevanovićXXXXXXXXSDSocial DemocratsTanja Fajon3 MPsXXXXXXXXDOMHomeland LeagueBernard BrščičXXXXXXXXPiratiPirate Party of SloveniaBoštjan TavčarXXXXXXXXZLS For the People of SloveniaAnica BidarXXXXXXXXZZDFor a Healthy SocietyGregor KosXXXXXXXXGSFreedom MovementRobert GolobXXXXXXXXNDOur LandAleksandra PivecXXXXXXXXSABParty of Alenka BratušekAlenka Bratušek3 MPsXXXXXXXXLevicaThe LeftLuka Mesec3 MPsXXXXXXXXLMŠList of Marjan ŠarecMarjan Šarec3 MPsXXXXXXXXPoSLet's Connect Slovenia3 MPsXXXXXXXXSDSSlovenian Democratic PartyJanez Janša3 MPsXXXXXXXXVESNASpring – Green PartyUrša Zgojznik &Uroš MacerlXXXXXXXXZOSAlliance Let us Liberate Slovenia X XXXXX X X LBPList Boris Popovič – Let's Digitalize SloveniaBoris PopovičXXXXXXXXNP–DDOur Future and Good CountrySmiljan Mekicar &Ivan GaleXXXXXXXXSource: Siol.net
Opinion polls
Results The turnout in the vote was 70%, according to the electoral commission. Experts said that was well above the national average. Peter Merše, a political analyst, said; "The biggest winner is of course the Freedom Movement. Slovenia is once again experimenting with new faces, with people we have hardly even heard of before." The voter turnout at early election, that took place from 19 to 21 April, was 7.67%, which was the record turnout for early voting both in election and referendums.
Constituency results