2014 Slovenian parliamentary election
13 July 2014
All 90 seats in the National Assembly
46 seats needed for a majority
Turnout50.99% (Decrease 14.61 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Miro Cerar Janez Janša Karl Erjavec
Party SMC SDS DeSUS
Last election New 26 seats, 26.19% 6 seats, 6.97%
Seats won 36 21 10
Seat change New Decrease 5 Increase 4
Popular vote 298,342 178,294 88,026
Percentage 34.61% 20.69% 10.21%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Dejan Židan collective leadership Ljudmila Novak
Party SD ZL NSi
Last election 10 seats, 10.52% New 4 seats, 4.88%
Seats won 6 6 5
Seat change Decrease 4 New Increase 1
Popular vote 52,249 52,189 48,846
Percentage 5.98% 5.97% 5.59%
  Seventh party
 
Leader Alenka Bratušek
Party Alliance of Alenka Bratušek
Last election New
Seats won 4
Seat change New
Popular vote 38,293
Percentage 4.38%
Results of the 2014 Slovenian Legislative election by multi-member constituency.[1]
Prime Minister before election

Alenka Bratušek
Alliance of Alenka Bratušek

 Prime Minister after election

Miro Cerar
SMC

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovenia on 13 July 2014 to elect the 90 deputies of the National Assembly.[2] The early election, less than three years after the previous one, was called following the resignation of Alenka Bratušek's government in May. Seventeen parties participated, including seven new parties, some of which formed only months before the election took place. Party of Miro Cerar (SMC), a new party led by lawyer and professor Miro Cerar, won the election with over 34% of the vote and 36 seats. Seven political parties won seats in the National Assembly. Three political parties left the Assembly, including Zoran Janković's Positive Slovenia, the winner of the 2011 election. A leftist United Left party entered the Assembly for the first time, winning six seats.

Background

After the previous elections in 2011, a right-leaning five-party coalition government was formed, composed of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), Civic List (DL), Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS), Slovenian People's Party (SLS), and New Slovenia (NSi.)[3] Janez Janša, the president of the SDS, became Prime Minister.[3] Janša's government collapsed on 27 February 2013 after he was accused of corruption.[4] Janša was later sentenced to 2 years in prison, and fined €37,000.[5]

A new government was formed by Positive Slovenia (PS), the Social Democrats (SD), DL, and DeSUS.[6] PS leader Alenka Bratušek became Prime Minister.[6] On 25 April 2014, congress of Pozitivna Slovenija was held in Brdo pri Kranju. The main agenda was the election of the next president of the party. Two candidates applied for the post: previous president Zoran Janković and the incumbent Alenka Bratušek. Coalition parties SD, DL and DeSUS threatened to leave the government if Jankovič were elected. Janković was indeed elected,[7] triggering Bratušek's formal resignation as the PM on 5 May.[8]

On 1 June 2014 president of Slovenia Borut Pahor announced the dissolution of the Assembly on 2 June and that the election would take place on 13 July.[2] Pahor's decision to call the election during a summer month triggered some opposition from civil initiatives,[9] however, the Constitutional Court of Slovenia backed the election date.[10][11]

Several new political parties entered the election, including Party of Miro Cerar (SMC) which was formally established on 2 June,[12] and Alliance of Alenka Bratušek (ZaAB), a splinter party from Positive Slovenia, that was established on 31 May.[13] United Left, Verjamem, and the Pirate Party took place for the first time in the European Parliament election on 25 May and participated in the national election as well.[14][15] Solidarity Party agreed to enter the election together with Social Democrats,[16] which earlier entered into an alliance with DeSUS, albeit with separate candidates lists.[17]

Janez Janša began serving his two-year prison sentence on 20 June,[18] which, according to the media, influenced the campaign of his party.[19]

Opinion polls

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Modern Centre Party301,56334.4936New
Slovenian Democratic Party181,05220.7121−5
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia88,96810.1810+4
Social Democrats 52,2495.986−4
United Left 52,1895.976New
New Slovenia48,8465.595+1
Alliance of Alenka Bratušek38,2934.384New
Slovenian People's Party34,5483.950−6
Positive Slovenia25,9752.970−28
Slovenian National Party19,2182.2000
Pirate Party 11,7371.340New
Verjamem6,8000.780New
Civic List 5,5560.640−8
Greens of Slovenia4,6290.5300
Equal Land - Forward Slovenia2,1250.2400
Economically Liberal Party4580.050New
Party of Humane Slovenia850.0100
Hungarian and Italian minorities20
Total874,291100.00900
Valid votes874,29198.69
Invalid/blank votes11,5691.31
Total votes885,860100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,713,06751.71
Source: Volitve

Aftermath

The Party of Miro Cerar (SMC) won a plurality in the election by a large margin with 36 seats. The only party that managed to win a higher percentage of the votes was Janez Drnovšek's Liberal Democracy of Slovenia at the 2000 election.[20] Janša's Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) came second, losing 5 seats in comparison with the 2011 election. The difference between the first two parties turned out to be higher than most of opinion polls predicted. DeSUS placed third with 10 seats, the best result in party's history. United Left won 6 seats, with tracking polls showing gaining the momentum in the last days before the election.[21] The Social Democrats lost 4 seats and obtained their worst election result.[22] New Slovenia won an additional mandate and the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek managed to win 4 seats. The Slovenian People's Party, Positive Slovenia (the winner of the 2011 election), and Civic List all failed to retain seats in the Assembly. All other parties also failed to reach the 4% threshold. Turnout was slightly below 51%, the lowest since Slovenian independence.[23] On the other hand, a record 3.9% of voters voted in the early election.[24]

In accordance with the Constitution of Slovenia, two seats are allocated to the Italian and Hungarian national communities, with one representative given to each community. Members of the Italian community elected Roberto Battelli as their representative, and members of the Hungarian community elected László Göncz. They were the sole candidates.[25]

Following the results, Miro Cerar (the likely new Prime Minister[26]) stated he perceives the large public support as a responsibility. He said he was open to enter coalition talks with all parties, except the SDS, which is "directly undermining the rule of legal institutions".[27] Zvonko Černač of SDS said in his first reaction that the party considers the election result as illegitimate, since the party president was in prison for corruption after what SDS considered a politically motivated process.[28] Karl Erjavec of DeSUS stated that the party is ready to enter the coalition talks and that they will protect the pension funds. United Left, which was positively surprised by their result, stated that they are willing to participate in a government, although they won't compromise on their political programme.[27] Dejan Židan of the Social Democrats was disappointed with the results, saying he had expected SD to score higher. New Slovenia and ZaAB both perceived their results as a success. Franc Bogovič of the Slovenian People's Party was surprised by the fact that the party missed the required 4% of the vote, albeit only barely, and stated that he will not run for the party president at the congress.[27]

International media noted that the winner of the election is a political newcomer and that his success is "punishment by voters for the traditional parties, tarnished by corruption scandals and years of economic turmoil".[29] Cerar was seen as a politician untarnished by the corruption scandals.[30] Media also noted that Cerar opposes selling controlling stakes of strategic infrastructure, such as telecoms provider Telekom Slovenia and the international airport, Aerodrom Ljubljana, and stressed that one of his main tasks will be to reduce the national budget deficit.[29] Croatian media drew parallels between Cerar and Drnovšek, hoping that Cerar will return political culture, tolerance, and mutual respect into Slovenian politics.[29][31] Jutarnji List saw the main reason for the defeat of SDS in the fact that the party has relied too much on the imprisoned party president.[29] The Wall Street Journal stated that the most likely coalition partners would be the Social Democrats and DeSUS[32] while Slovenian journal Finance suggested that the best coalition would be with the Social Democrats, New Slovenia, and ZaAB.[33] A coalition government of SMC, DeSUS and the Social Democrats was formed in September.

References

  1. ↑ "Republic of Slovenia Early Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2014". volitve.gov.si. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Pahor predčasne volitve razpisal za 13. julij, Solidarnost že napovedala ustavno presojo | Dnevnik". Dnevnik.si. 2014-04-28. Archived from the original on 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  3. 1 2 "Enter the Political Year of the Dragon". Slovenia Times. Slovenian Press Agency. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "Znotraj DZ-ja jasna podpora, zunaj njega odzivi mešani :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  5. ↑ "BBC News – Ex-Slovenian PM Janez Jansa convicted of corruption". BBC News. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  6. 1 2 "Optimizem po prvih pogovorih pri Bratuškovi :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. 27 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Slovenia government facing collapse as PM loses party leadership". The Guardian. Associated Press. 26 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Bratuškova bo danes odstopila". Delo.si. 2014-05-03. Archived from the original on 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  9. ↑ Kovačevič, Avtor Marko; Čokl, Vanessa. "Večer: Prva pobuda proti julijskim volitvam: bi lahko bilo sporno Pahorjevo skrajšanje 30 dni?". Nov.vecer.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-11. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  10. ↑ "Volitve bodo 13. julija. Pahor: Dvom o ustavnosti moje odločitve je odpravljen. :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. 2012-08-21. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  11. ↑ "Ustavno sodišče zavrglo in zavrnilo pobude: volitve bodo 13. julija". Delo.si. 2014-05-25. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  12. ↑ "Cerar s svojo stranko na predčasne volitve :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. 2013-05-15. Archived from the original on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  13. ↑ ""Želim, da ob dveh črkah ne vidite le mojega imena, ampak začetnici abecede" :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. 2014-05-31. Archived from the original on 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  14. ↑ "Združena levica: Levica je že povezana". Delo.si. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-03. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  15. ↑ "Verjamem vložila kandidatno listo v vseh volilnih okrajih | Slovenija – Planet". Siol.net. 2014-06-19. Archived from the original on 2014-07-22. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  16. ↑ "SD in Solidarnost skupaj na volitve". Delo.si. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  17. ↑ "Desus in SD v »socialdemokratski blok za vse generacije«". Delo.si. 5 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  18. ↑ "FOTO IN VIDEO: Janša po zadnjem poljubu z Urško vkorakal v zapor na Dobu". 24ur.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  19. ↑ "FOTO: Tuji mediji o razliki med Janšo pred 25 leti in danes: Nedeljene podpore ljudstva nima več". 24ur.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  20. ↑ "Foto: Prepričljiva zmaga SMC-ja, le malo upanja za SLS :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  21. ↑ "Zadnji »tracking poll« Mladinine predvolilne ankete: zmaga Mira Cerarja in preboj malih strank". Mladina.Si. Archived from the original on 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  22. ↑ "Državnozborske volitve v številkah (infografike) | Dnevnik". Dnevnik.si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  23. ↑ "Neuradni podatki: 50,99-odstotna volilna udeležba :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  24. ↑ "DVK: Rekordna udeležba na predčasnih volitvah – 3,90 odstotka volivcev :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  25. ↑ "Republic of Slovenia Early Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2014". Volitve.gov.si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  26. ↑ "Neuradni rezultati: Cerar najverjetnejši novi premier". Mladina.Si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  27. 1 2 3 "Cerar: Imamo pooblastilo za preboj iz krize :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  28. ↑ "SDS poziva Pahorja, naj ponovno razpiše volitve (foto) | Volitve 2014 – Planet". Siol.net. Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  29. 1 2 3 4 Novak, Marja (13 July 2014). "Political novice wins power in Slovenia, hints at revisiting economic reform plan". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  30. ↑ "Exit polls: Cerar wins Slovenia parliamentary elections | News | DW.DE | 13.07.2014". DW.DE. 2012-01-31. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  31. ↑ "Neki ga nazivaju novim Drnovšekom: Tko je Miro Cerar? – Vijesti". Index.hr. 2014-07-09. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  32. ↑ Rousek, Leos (13 July 2014). "Recently Formed Center-Left Party Wins Slovenian Parliamentary Election – WSJ". Wall Street Journal. Online.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-26. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  33. ↑ "Tuji mediji o volitvah v Sloveniji: Zmagal je novinec :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija". Rtvslo.si. 2012-09-21. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
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