| Parliament name |
- |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
3 October 2004 |
| Timing and scope of renewal |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Voters in Slovenia went to the polls to elect the 90 members of the National Assembly in the first elections since the country joined the European Union in May 2004.
Public opinion polls had suggested that the ruling coalition
led by Prime Minister Anton Rop's Liberal Democrat Party (LDS)
would retain leadership although polls also indicated that half the electorate was dissatisfied with the work of the Government and the Parliament. The LDS
which had been in power for most of the past 12 years
had suffered a setback on 13 June 2004
during the first elections to the European Parliament (EP) held in the country. On this occasion
the ruling party had been beaten by the two main centre right opposition parties
Democrat Party (SDS) of Mr. Janez Jansa and the New Slovenia (Nsi)
which together won 41.5 per cent of the vote and four of the seven seats that Slovenia holds in the European Parliament.
In December 2002 Mr. Anton Rop
former Finance Minister had taken over from Mr. Janez Drnovsek as Prime Minister and leader of the LDS
the latter replacing Milan Kucan as President of the Republic.
During the electoral campaign
Prime Minister Anton Rop vaunted the results he had achieved as head of government including on the economic front. Slovenia's GDP per inhabitant is 72% of the European average i.e. a level equal to that of Greece and Portugal. Mr. Rop promised that
if elected
his mandate would focus mainly on education and research
while Mr. Jansa promised to improve access to healthcare and education
to develop environmental policy and to ensure a decent income for all.
Voter participation stood at 60.27 per cent
nearly 10 percentage points down from the previous elections in 2000. It was nevertheless much higher than the low 28.24 per cent at the European elections in June 2004.
The elections resulted in a surprise victory by the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) over the ruling Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) by a narrow margin. The SDS won 29.1 per cent of the vote
i.e. 13.3 points more than during the 2000 general elections. This party obtained 29 seats
while its coalition partner
the Nsi won 8.9 per cent of the vote and nine seats. Together both parties obtained one seat more than the three parties of the outgoing coalition together. The Liberal Democrat Party (LDS) won 22.82 per cent of the vote (23 seats)
while the United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD) won 10.20 per cent (10 seats) and the Democratic Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) obtained 4.04 (4 seats) just enough for the 4 per cent threshold
necessary to be represented in the National Assembly. The centre-right People's Party
which was seen as a probable coalition partner for the SDS and Nsi
won another seven seats.
The new National Assembly held its first session on 22 October 2004. Mr. France Cukjati (SDS) was elected as the new Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 3 October 2004 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
1'634'402
991'123 (60.64%)
22'351
968'772 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) |
|
281'710 |
|
|
29.07 |
|
|
| Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) |
|
220'848 |
|
|
22.79 |
|
|
| United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD) |
|
98'527 |
|
|
10.17 |
|
|
| New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi) |
|
88'073 |
|
|
9.09 |
|
|
| Slovene People's Party (SLS) |
|
66'032 |
|
|
6.82 |
|
|
| Slovene National Party (SNS) |
|
60'750 |
|
|
6.27 |
|
|
| Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia |
|
39'150 |
|
|
4.04 |
|
|
| Representatives of ethnic minorities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) |
29
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) |
23
|
|
|
|
|
| United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD) |
10
|
|
|
|
|
| New Slovenia - Christian People's Party (NSi) |
9
|
|
|
|
|
| Slovene People's Party (SLS) |
7
|
|
|
|
|
| Slovene National Party (SNS) |
6
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| Representatives of ethnic minorities |
2
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
79
11
12.22%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
|
2
7
41
28
12
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Legislators
senior officials
managers |
63 |
| Experts |
15 |
| Technical support and other expert staff |
6 |
| Self-employed |
2 |
| Others |
1 |
| Officials |
1 |
| Non-industrial professions |
1 |
| Service providers
salesmen |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Source:
Republic of Slovenia Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2004
Departament of international Relations
Protocol and Translation (7 March 2005) |
See also Election archives