By: G. B.
In six months, the European Parliament elections will take place, so it can be expected that parties will soon release lists of their candidates. This also applies to NSi party, which seems to be opting for an independent candidacy.
The leadership of NSi will hold its traditional party consultation today and tomorrow to assess the political landscape and outline the party’s work in 2024. Expectations are that considerable time will be devoted to the upcoming European elections, with the first steps towards forming the candidate list, reports STA. According to reports, preparations for the elections were accelerated, and the candidate registration process was completed last fall. Among the candidates are current MEP Ljudmila Novak, party leader Matej Tonin, NSi vice president and head of MPs Janez Cigler Kralj, MP Jernej Vrtovec, the president of the party’s youth wing Katja Berk Bevc, and the president of the mayors and councillors club of NSi David Klobasa.
During the two-day consultation, NSi’s leadership will take the first steps towards forming the candidate list. Expectations are high within the party that Ljudmila Novak will announce her decision to run. In recent months, speculation has been rife about whether she will politically retire after the expiration of her current mandate as an MEP. According to some information, she might consider re-election only as the list’s leader, but unofficial reports suggest that NSi President Tonin has already announced in one of the party council sessions that Novak will not be proposed as the list leader. Nevertheless, he expressed a desire for her to be part of the list. According to unofficial information, Tonin and the head of NSi MPs, Cigler Kralj, are considered top candidates for the first place on the list.
However, the battle will be tough, as Novak will not easily relinquish her position. Still, NSi appears to have assessed that her stance is not particularly constructive, and the party might end up empty-handed if she is again the list’s leader. Nevertheless, some party members still support Ljudmila Novak’s candidacy, and there is a divide within the party on whether to let her go. Some see her candidacy conditions as mere extortion, and it is possible that NSi leadership might genuinely retire her from politics.
Almost certainly, Lojze Peterle will not be on the list anymore. He served as an MEP for three mandates (between 2004 and 2019) and ran five years ago but was not elected because Novak was too strong as the list leader, and the list itself did not achieve the results necessary for two parliamentary seats. Rumors suggest that Peterle might consider running on the SLS (Slovenian People’s Party) list, where Peter Gregorčič would be the list leader. This possibility is not excluded, especially considering the recent agreement between Peterle and SLS President Marko Balažic, allowing Peterle to use the name Christian Democrats to establish a civil society platform. If this happens, it could jeopardise NSi’s success. SLS has not yet presented its candidates, but it is entirely possible that the former MEP Franc Bogovič might be among them. Unlike Ljudmila Novak, he does not seem concerned about being the list leader, having been elected twice as an MEP without holding that position.