March 15, 2018 – Prime Minister Miro Cerar's resignation is a politically wise tactical move which can only benefit his SMC party at the upcoming election, Andraž Zorko from pollster Valicon has told the STA.
"I think this was a very logical decision, and judging by the reactions of other parties, it was not only brave but also quite wise."
Cerar's resignation will probably not bring any major change to the date of the general election, as it cannot be held much earlier than in June, he said.
"However, it brings major change for the positioning of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) in relation to other parties."
Zorko also believes "the prime minister was right when he said that whatever his government and his party had done was automatically seen as negative."
This is because as an institution, the government has been faring rather poorly for several years, but the resignation is bound to change this perception, he stressed.
Zorko drew parallels with another recent resignation, that of opposition New Slovenia (NSi) leader Ljudmila Novak, who was replaced by Matej Tonin at the end of January.
At the time, Zorko said that the change in leadership would most probably secure the NSi a better election result.
"I can say the same in this case," he said, adding it was more likely the SMC would secure a better election outcome than a worse one, because "the SMC has now rid itself of the burden of running an institution nobody likes".
"The SMC winning 35% of the vote in the 2014 election and then losing support rather quickly without even being given a chance as a political newcomer, is a clear sign that voters treat the government in one way and 'new faces' in another."
Zorko also noted it was rather rare for Slovenian politicians to step down.
"We've often called on various office-holders to resign, but nobody has resigned. Now we finally have two cases. First Novak and now the prime minister."
He added that Cerar was also right when he said that Slovenia was doing very well: it has robust economic growth, unemployment is falling, there is stability.
"Nevertheless, people are unhappy, which is a paradox," he said.
Cerar announced his resignation late last evening after the Supreme Court annulled the September 2017 referendum on the Koper-Divača rail project, a priority of his government.
He will discuss his decision with President Borut Pahor today.
Pahor has recently consulted parliamentary parties on the most suitable date for the election, with 10 June being mentioned as the most likely date. The date could now be changed to an earlier Sunday.
