Slovenia’s lawmakers on Tuesday backed an anti-immigrant politician to become the new prime minister, paving the way for the formation of a right-leaning government.
The 90-member parliament voted 52-31 to support Janez Jansa, the leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) as the prime minister-designate, after liberal PM Marjan Sarec stepped down in January amid infighting in his minority five-party coalition.
Sarec had called for an early election, but his two former coalition partners instead agreed to form a new government with Jansa.
Jansa is an ally of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. The SDS won the most votes in the 2018 election, but other groups in parliament initially refused to cooperate with it because of its right-wing policies. Jansa’s opponents believe that he could push the country toward populism.
Jansa now has 15 days to assemble his Cabinet, which will also need parliamentary approval before it can take office.
Slovenia confirms anti-immigrant party leader as new PM
EPA-EFE/IGOR KUPLJENIK
Leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) Janez Jansa speaks at a session of the Slovenian Parliament to elect prime minister-designate, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 03 March 2020. Jansa received mandate of lawmakers to form a new government after Prime Minister Marjan Sarec resigned in January. Jansa has 15 days to form the government that will still need to be approved by the parliament.
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