BELGRADE, Nov 13 Independent candidate Natasha Pirc Musar retains lead in the second round of presidential elections in Slovenia, gaining almost 54% of the vote, the State Election Commission (SEC) said after processing 77.32% of the data from the polling stations.
Voting took place on Sunday from 7.00 to 19.00 local time (8.00 and 20.00 Moscow time respectively), there were about 3 thousand polling stations, about 1.7 million citizens have the right to vote. The sites were closed on time, without incident. Former Foreign Minister Anze Logar and lawyer and civil activist Natasha Pirc Musar are running for the post of head of state.
The results of counting 77.32% of polling stations were the last to be published on the official website of the electoral commission. According to the published data, Pirc Musar receives 53.87% of the vote, Logar — 46.13% of voters' support.
In the first round of voting, which took place on 23 October, Logar received 33.9% support. The candidate of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), ex-Prime Minister Janez Janša, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia in 2020-2022 and was noted for anti-Russian rhetoric, the expulsion of Russian diplomats and the revocation of accreditation from the honorary consuls of Russia, as well as in the cabinet — sending material assistance and weapons to Ukraine . Independent candidate Natasha Pirc Musar, who is supported by left-wing voters and supporters of the ruling Freedom Movement, then received 26.8% of the vote. The turnout in the first round was a little over 51%.
Polls of Slovenian voters before the second round of voting showed a slight advantage for 54-year-old Pirc Musar, who advocates, in particular, for the rights of the LGBT community, the right of women to have an abortion. If elected, she will become the first woman head of the Slovenian state. Forty-six-year-old Logar goes to the polls under the slogan «For the Future Together» and calls on citizens to unite on the basis of a centre-right platform. The current president, Borut Pahor, has served two terms in office and cannot, according to the constitution, be elected for a third term.
The powers of the Slovenian president are mostly ceremonial, along with this, he proclaims laws approved by parliament, appointments to certain posts, including judges of the Constitutional Court, central bank governor and ambassadors, and sets the date for elections to the lower house of parliament. Elected for a term of five years.