Ljubljana - Representatives of both youths and senior citizens have high expectations of the new ministry for solidarity-based future to be led by Luka Mesec, the leader of the Left. They hope pre-election promises will not be forgotten.

The new ministry will cover housing policy and long-term care, issues that are high on the Left's agenda.

Srebrna Nit, an association campaigning for dignified old age, said it had cooperated well in the last four years with representatives of the Left and that its election programme was promising.

According to the association's head, Biserka Marolt Meden, the Left knows what the main problems are, so hopefully campaign promises will be implemented. She said the association and the civil society would offer assistance and support.

"If long-term care will now be covered by a single ministry and there is no delegating of responsibilities from one ministry to another, we hope things will be better than so far," she said.

The association has been calling for a stronger welfare state, which is to benefit both the young and old. It proposes a stronger public network providing for long-term care. "There is a real chance for the situation to improve," said Marolt Meden.

Both Srebrna Nit and the Slovenian Youth Council would like the ministry to not be just an institution but an active player that will seriously tackle the problems of both the young and older people, as the problems are intertwined.

The Youth Council has very high expectations of the new ministry, the council's head Jaka Trilar told the STA, especially regarding housing issues.

So far, it has been difficult to find a person to address issues to and youth have been reporting of irregularities mostly to the Youth Council.

The organisation sees the connection with long-term care as positive. Slovenia's Intergenerational Coalition, of which the Yoouth Council is a part, has been pointing to the need for legal regulation of intergenerational living arrangements, which could be seen as a way to tackle the housing issues of the young.

But other measures are needed to, Trilar was quick to point out. The organisation expects the new ministry to seriously deal with other possible solutions as well, for example social housing for youths.

The Youth Council has mixed feelings about Mesec running the ministry as their ideological views differ, but it is glad that a deputy prime minister will be in charge of the ministry that is important for this segment of the population.