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Tag: Borut Pahor

  • Slovenia elects first woman president in a runoff vote

    Slovenia elects first woman president in a runoff vote

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    LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Liberal rights advocate Natasa Pirc Musar won a runoff Sunday to become Slovenia’s first female head of state, and said she will seek to bridge the deep left-right divide in the Alpine nation of 2 million.

    With nearly all of the votes counted in the small European Union nation, Pirc Musar led Slovenia’s conservative former Foreign Minister Anze Logar by 54% to 46%. Her victory boosts the country’s liberal bloc following the center-left coalition victory in Slovenia’s parliamentary election in April.

    “My first task will be to open a dialogue among all Slovenians,” she said as her election team celebrated. “In the democratic election, Slovenians have shown what kind of a country they want.”

    “All my life I’ve advocated the same values: democracy, human rights, tolerance. It’s time to stop dealing with the past. Many things have to be done in the future,” she declared.

    Logar conceded defeat, saying he hopes Pirc Musar “will carry out all the promises” that she made during the campaign.

    Pirc Musar, 54, will be the first woman to serve as president since Slovenia became independent amid the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. A prominent lawyer, Pirc Musar had represented former U.S. first lady Melania Trump in copyright and other cases in her native Slovenia.

    She trailed Logar in the first round of voting two weeks ago.

    But since none of the seven contenders who competed in the first round managed to gather more than 50% support to claim outright victory, Logar and Pirc Musar went to a runoff. Analysts in Slovenia had predicted that centrist and liberal voters would rally behind Pirc Musar.

    Pirc Musar will succeed President Borut Pahor, a centrist politician who had already served two terms.

    While the presidency is largely ceremonial in Slovenia, the head of state still is seen as a person of authority. Presidents nominate prime ministers and members of the constitutional court, who are then elected in parliament, and appoints members of the anti-corruption commission.

    Logar, 46, served under former populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who moved Slovenia to the right while in power and faced accusations of undemocratic and divisive policies. Jansa was ousted from power in the parliamentary election in April.

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  • Vote count shows Slovenia presidency to be decided in runoff

    Vote count shows Slovenia presidency to be decided in runoff

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    LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — A right-wing politician and a centrist independent candidate will face each other in a runoff presidential election in Slovenia after no candidate achieved an outright victory in the first round of voting Sunday, partial results showed.

    Former Foreign Minister Anze Logar was leading the race with 34% of the vote, followed by lawyer and human rights advocate Natasa Pirc Musar with nearly 27%, state election authorities said after counting most of the ballots.

    Trailing third was Social Democrat Milan Brglez, the candidate of the ruling liberal government, who garnered some 15% of the vote, according to the official tally.

    Since none of the seven contenders who competed in the election managed to gather more than 50% of the ballots needed for an outright victory, a runoff between Logar and Pirc Musar will be held on Nov. 13.

    While Logar took a lead on Sunday, analysts in Slovenia have predicted the tables could turn in the runoff if Slovenia’s centrist and liberal voters rally behind Pirc Musar.

    Logar, 46, served under former populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who moved Slovenia to the right while in power and faced accusations of non-democratic and divisive policies.

    A victory for Logar in the second round therefore might get interpreted as a setback for the liberal coalition that ousted Jansa from power six months ago.

    During the presidential campaign, Logar has sought to present himself as a unifier. He said “some may have seen this as me distancing myself (from Jansa,) but I was actually being me, Anže Logar, a candidate.”

    If Pirc Musar wins, she would become the first female president of Slovenia since the country became independent from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

    Known as an LGBTQ rights advocate, Pirc Musar said she expected a “battle of values” in the runoff.

    “I’m looking forward to the second round,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the final.”

    Logar said he expected the debate to focus on issues important to Slovenia.

    Turnout by 1400 GMT was nearly 35%, somewhat higher than for the previous presidential election five years ago, election officials said as polls closed.

    Slovenia’s 1.7 million eligible voters are choosing a successor to incumbent Borut Pahor. He has served two full five-year terms and was banned from running for a third.

    While in office, Pahor tried to bridge Slovenia’s left-right divide that remains a source of political tension in the traditionally moderate and stable nation of 2 million.

    Prime Minister Robert Golob said the future president should have “moral authority” on the country’s political scene and “great trust among Slovenians.”

    Ziga Jelenec, a resident of Ljubljana, the capital, said he believed the election will show “how much our society is divided.”

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