5

The List of Marjan Šarec (LMŠ) came in second in last year's parliamentary elections, lagging far behind the victorious Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). Nevertheless, LMŠ has managed to form his government by being politically savvy. Two months later at the local elections, LMŠ failed to achieve better results. They even lost in Kamnik, the political springboard of the new Prime Minister, who successfully led the city as the mayor for two terms of office.

The elections to the European Parliament are fundamentally different from the Slovenian parliamentary elections because they are organized according to the principle of proportionality, meaning that each state is a single constituency in its own right and that voters have the option of a preferential vote, which they can use to express their support for a specific candidate. Thus, parties have a far lesser impact on the elected Members of the European Parliament (MEP's) than they do in parliamentary elections, where a party can greatly influence who will make it into the parliament by selecting a constituency and a district. A well-known example dates back to 2004, the year Slovenia first elected MEP's. While Borut Pahor came in last on the list of candidates proposed by the Social Democrat Party, he won due to overwhelming preferential votes. Hence, it only matters who the candidate is and not so much which party they were put forward by, which poses another problem for party strategists. Despite the tempting pay and other privileges enjoyed by MEP's, there is a lack of prominent personalities in Slovenia who are interested in being politically engaged, even when it comes to the European Parliament.

Another important element that always influences the results is voter turnout. Slovenia is among the EU member states where voter turnout is the lowest. In 2014, the turnout was just under 25 percent while in both 2009 and 2004 it was well over 28 percent. By comparison, the average among EU member states ranges between 42 percent and 45 percent. This is considerably higher than it is in Slovenia, but this still raises the question of legitimacy and the issue of the so-called democratic deficit, which the leaders in Brussels have been tackling unsuccessfully for quite a while. In this regard, it is noteworthy that in the 2014 European Parliament elections, the voter turnout in Slovakia only amounted to 13 percent, which is below the legitimacy limit. Another problem relating to the voter turnout in Slovenia should be noted. Among the youth who, according to a Slovenian saying, are the pillars of the world (or the future of the EU) only amounted to 15 percent.

Nevertheless, there have been positive developments in terms of the Slovenian voter turnout. Both in the last parliamentary as well as local elections, voter turnout was surprisingly higher than usual. The expectation that the positive trend will continue in the European elections this May is reasonable. The hopes for a better turnout are based on the general political climate in Slovenia, which has not been optimistic in a long time. As many as 70 percent of people have assessed the government's work as successful, which is a record as far support goes. According to expectations, this should also reflect in a higher voter turnout, at least to some extent.

This is where the trouble faced by Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, who voters quickly grew fond of, begins. In merely five months, Šarec took the first place in political popularity, even defeating Borut Pahor, the undisputed king of such rankings in the past decade. Marjan Šarec will not be running in the European elections. Without him, the LMŠ party is-at least for now-like a car without fuel. The party's strategists will have to find some reputable names if they are to capitalize on their current popularity and send at least one MEP to Strasbourg. A special clash is also expected in the run for the prestigious position of the European Commissioner, but this will only become topical in early autumn this year. Until then, the political state of affairs may change drastically, so it would not be reasonable to speculate as to who the Slovenian member of the European Commission in Brussels might be just yet.

In the remaining 27 EU member states, this year's elections are historically significant. While this is a pretty overused expression heard before each election, there is some truth to the matter. The current problems in the European Union are not related merely to the periodic sciatica attacks suffered by the President of the European Commission. They go further than that. After Brexit, the spread of euroskepticism, the far-right and questionable directions that Hungary, Poland, and other states are headed in, the European Union is in dire need of a strategic deliberation on how to carry on. It also desperately needs credible leaders capable of navigating this highly decrepit boat in the right direction.

In certain Slovenian media, there are rumours that Janez Janša, the long-standing president of the largest opposition party in Slovenia, is seriously considering the candidature for a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). As of writing this, let us once again emphasize that these are merely rumours. However, if they turn out to be true, this year's elections in Slovenia will go down in history.