By: Dr. Vinko Gorenak
“Any joy or fear at the sight of today’s polls is completely unnecessary. It is already clear that between 2025 and 2030, no one will remember what the acronyms PS (Positive Slovenia), DL (Civic List), SAB (Alenka Bratušek Party), SMC (Miro Cerar Party), and LMŠ (Marjan Šarec List) stood for, and many will wonder who Janković, Cerar, Šarec even were…”
Apparently, I said these words back in 2019 at the Dr Jože Pučnik Academy while responding to a question from an attendee who was concerned about public opinion polls regarding political party support. Someone on the social network X, who was evidently in the audience back in 2019, recently reminded me of this.
Today, in 2025, nearly six years after these words were spoken, the situation is clear – I was right. The political parties PS, DL, SAB, SMC, and LMŠ are long gone and no longer exist. Even I had to think for a moment to recall who founded PS and when it ceased to exist.
This is the reality of modern Slovenia and its democracy, where left-wing political parties emerge like mushrooms before every election. All of them initially achieve great success, many even win elections and form governments, but in every case, they “dance” for just one or at most two terms before disappearing.
If new disposable political parties emerge on the left before each election – lasting for just one or at most two terms – the same cannot be said for the individual members of these parties. Many examples show that the same people keep reappearing in different political parties. Perhaps the most well-known case is Jani Möderndorfer, who was first a member of the defunct LDS (Liberal Democracy of Slovenia), then Zares (Gregor Golobič’s party), followed by PS, SAB, SMC, and LMŠ. I may have missed one, but in all or most of these parties, he served as a Member of Parliament. Near my place of residence, there is a well-known case where an office once belonged to LDS, then PS, followed by SMC and LMŠ, and today it houses the office of Gibanje Svoboda. Only the sign on the door changes, while the people inside remain the same. This is a clear example of the same individuals “selling” themselves to voters under a different “packaging” each time.
Given the bipolar nature of Slovenian politics, which is divided into a left and a right-wing bloc with relatively few voters switching between them, we can observe that left-wing voters behave like migratory birds or nomads, shifting from place to place. For the past two decades, a new political “saviour” or a fresh face has appeared before every election – selected by the political underworld led by Slovenia’s last communist leader from Murgle.
This raises a legitimate question: Can we expect another new face in the next elections, around whom the political nomads will rally? Some indications suggest that the current ruling coalition’s “dancers” are considering early elections to extend their government mandate. Each of them has their own calculations.
The situation is unfavourable for them in every respect. As regular parliamentary elections approach, they are increasingly aware that they have not implemented any meaningful reforms, yet they still enjoy being in power. Golob knows he will never again secure as many MPs as he did with GS in 2022. The closer the regular elections in March 2026 get, the higher the likelihood of a new political figure and a new party emerging – possibly leading to GS dropping out of parliament altogether or winning only enough MPs to fill a small van. The situation is also quite precarious for Levica and SD. The closer the elections get, the more they will lose voters due to Golob’s incompetence. It would be no surprise if one or both failed to enter parliament, especially if a strong new candidate appears. That is why voices advocating for early elections are getting louder – they see it as the only way to prevent the rise of a new political figure and “dance” for another term.