An accordion player in traditional dress is a familiar sight in Ljubljana’s Preseren Square, offering folk tunes and CDs from a box labeled “Slovenian Music.” That simple image — the instrument and the repertoire it evokes — has been adopted by the main opposition, the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). Across the capital, campaign posters show a smiling boy with an accordion and the slogan: “Vote SDS, so your grandson will still sing Slovenian songs.”
The party’s message is explicit: draw attention to national roots. Tone Kajzer, a former diplomat and the SDS foreign policy spokesperson, frames the instrument as emblematic of Slovenian identity, warning that “the tree without roots will fall very soon.” The campaign leans into an idealized past, suggesting the years after Slovenia’s 1991 independence set a standard to return to.
By contrast, the governing center-left Freedom Movement (GS) has distilled its appeal into one word: “Forward.” Matej Grah, the party’s secretary general, casts the election as a choice between two paths — looking forward to reform and the future, or turning back toward history. He describes the stakes as more than jobs or services: a fight for Slovenia’s soul, sovereignty, the rule of law, and the preservation of liberal, open values and a robust social state in the heart of Europe.
Voters will face as many as 18 candidate lists on March 22, and smaller parties are likely to play a role in any coalition-building. But the main duel is between Prime Minister Robert Golob of the Freedom Movement and SDS leader Janez Janša, a three-time former prime minister.
The Freedom Movement broke a recent pattern on the center-left by becoming the new dominant force in 2022; Golob’s surge that year brought a record number of parliamentary seats. Unlike earlier new center-left groups, the party completed a full four-year term, and there is no fresher figure poised to replace Golob.
Still, support for the government has cooled since 2022. Igor Bergant, a well-known presenter at the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija, suggests Golob may have overpromised and under-delivered, noting a short public attention span and fast-growing frustration. Golob had asked for two mandates to implement reforms; critics say much remains undone after one term.
The government points to gains in healthcare, housing and pensions as reasons to continue, but many voters cite a strained health service as the dominant concern and evidence that change has not yet been widely felt.
The campaign’s final stretch has been marred by controversy. Covert recordings released in recent days allege corrupt practices involving prominent center-left figures. Golob has accused Janša of working with a private Israeli intelligence firm and of undermining Slovenian democracy by collaborating with a foreign power. The SDS counters by alleging the country has been “captured by systemic corruption.” How these competing allegations sway voters will be resolved at the ballot box.
Around 1.6 million people are eligible to vote. By Monday it should be clear whether Slovenians opt for the nostalgia and emphasis on national identity offered by Janša and the SDS or the reformist, progressive agenda championed by Golob and the Freedom Movement.
Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan