STA, 24 April 2022 - Parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič told the STA as he cast a ballot in Velike Malence near Brežice today that citizens always made the right decision in election. Prime Minister and Democrats (SDS) head Janez Janša, who voted in Šentilj near Velenje, expressed a similar view. Several other party heads were optimistic as well.
Zorčič expects a tight outcome today. He said the election campaign had been relatively broad, as a large number of parties participated, while content-wise it had been "rather weak".
As a result, voters will vote primarily for or against the ruling coalition rather than based on contents, he believes. "But regardless, I'm sure that citizens always make the right decision," he said.
Janša expects a high turnout today, which he believes will be good. When election is democratic and people express their will freely, every result is a good result, Janša said.
Commenting on the election campaign, the PM said that for the government this had been a parallel activity and that it was different for the opposition. "Although if I look at my colleagues from the opposition I see they are tired, some even ill, so it must be something else."
He said he would have liked serious media to have made a comparison during the campaign between the first and second parts of the past term, "because we had government only in the second part of the term". He believes the campaign had been primarily a battle over who will take the credit for the results of the second part of the government term.
Today's election will decide how Slovenia will develop not only in the next four years, but in the next decade, he said, adding that many projects were planned and that it would be a shame if they were suspended.
SD head Tanja Fajon believes many people would turn out today. "Which means we all hope for a new beginning."
She said the campaign had been demanding, that her team had worked hard all along, was well prepared and had given its best. "We will get nervous in the afternoon, but in a good way. I'm very optimistic," she said.
New Slovenia (NSi) head Matej Tonin was also upbeat, as he cast his ballot, saying that today was a festival of democracy, when "we have the opportunity to express our will on what kind of future we want". He said he was optimistic about the results of this election as well as about the future.
Marjan Šarec, the head of the LMŠ party, was also in good spirits today. He said the campaign had been tough and that he was happy with the work done by his team.
SAB head Alenka Bratušek said she was happy to see more people vote than ever before. She assessed the election campaign as demanding. "There have been more debates than ever, but we've still travelled several thousand kilometres around Slovenia, shook many hands," she said.
