STA, 14 November 2018 - Boris Popovič, the controversial mayor of Koper, appears to be the favourite to win his fifth term, and not even more than 40 court proceedings and costly "decorative lighting" set up just before the election seem to be eroding his voter base in the largest coastal municipality.
Popovič has for years been accused of arrogance and disregard for rules, but no challenger has so far succeed in dethroning the mayor who has been leading the fifth largest city in the country since 2002.
This year, he faces a dozen challengers who have mostly called for more democracy in Koper. The mayor appears unfazed, dismissing criticism and doling out campaign treats to his voters.
Christmas lights turned on November 9th
In what his opponents decried as shameless self-promotion and abuse of public funds, Popovič decided to introduce a novel approach to Christmas lighting in the city this year.
Dubbing it decorative lighting to bypass rules that prevent cities from turning into winter fairy tales before 1 December, Popovič turned on the EUR 500,000 lighting, called Wonderland, on 9 November, less than two weeks before the election.
He argues that Wonderland, which has been described by many as a kitschy destruction of the historic character of the city, will attract people from all over Slovenia and from abroad and thus boost revenue from tourism.
The decision is not unusual given Popovič's 16-year record as mayor, which has been punctuated by disputes over aesthetics as much as by his run-ins with the law which landed him in court in dozens of cases.
Some cases are still pending, but most have turned out in his favour. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2014 for abuse of office in the sale of municipal land, but a higher court annulled the ruling and ordered a retrial. The case has since become statute barred.
In 2009, Popovič got a three-month suspended sentence for defaming a reporter, in 2010 a suspended sentence of a year and ten months for abuse of office, tax evasion and doctoring business documents, and in 2012 a two-month suspended sentence for defamation.
But this has not shaken his foothold in Koper, nor has it provided his opposition with enough ammunition. This has also been reflected in the campaign, which has been fairly mellow, the glittery Wonderland excluded, before the final week of the campaign.
A number of suspicious incidents around the campaign
Only days before the election suspicions were raised that unauthorised people were able to access data about the support of voters to individual candidates.
Additionally, a man from Koper whose company does business with the municipality said he had received a call from the incumbent's campaign office quizzing him about his relative's candidacy on another candidate's list.
"I perceived this as a threat to my business, meaning that if I don't settle this, I'll lose the deal," the man, who said he had evidence of the phone call, told the public broadcaster TV Slovenija.
There was another minor incident, as posters of Popovič's former ally and advisor Gašpar Gašpar Mišič were removed from several bus stops by the city's utility Marjetica.
Officially, the posters were taken down because of the damage caused to the stands by the recent storm, but Mišič pointed his finger at the mayor, labelling the move campaign mischief.
Overall, Radio Koper editor-in-chief Andrej Šavko believes that the campaign has been quiet because "candidates, their campaigns and their supporters are engaged in the field instead of in the media", which is customary for local elections.
All 13 hopefuls faced off in a single debate at which "none of the candidates stood out in a positive or negative way", he told the STA.
While Popovič faces a dozen opponents, Aleš Bržan, an independent who ran for mayor on the slate of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) in 2014, is considered his most serious rival, though he is still a long shot for the mayorship.
You can find all our stories on the local elections here
