Ljubljana - Presumptive PM Robert Golob made an important strategic move when inviting former PMs Alenka Bratušek and Marjan Šarc to join his government, analyst Domen Kos said. This will enable him to take advantage of the experience of both and their teams, freeing up space for the political merger the liberal parties have announced.

The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) and the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) joining the Freedom Movement opens up the entire liberal space, which used to be occupied by the once powerful Liberal Democrats (LDS).

Neither the SAB nor LMŠ made it to parliament in the 24 April election, but had worked closely with Golob in trying to defeat the Janez Janša government.

Kos, IMP Group director, said their merger is about concentrating power around the currently dominant political party, Golob's Freedom Movement.

"In this sense, the merger of these parties and consequently Bratušek and Šarec's becoming ministers is the most strategic move Golob can make in the long term."

Kos also sees this as a way of filling the personnel gap that every new party has when winnings an election and this many political offices practically overnight.

Commenting on the expectations regarding who sits in the government, Kos says they are always high when the public shows its trust in an election so massively.

This time, voters voted for "a different way of doing things than they have seen in the outgoing government" and that they are fed up with old faces, said Kos.

On the other hand, "politics is a business in the art of the possible".

This means that in a given situation of different interests, the most optimal solutions are being sought, which are the best possible at a given time, although not the absolute best, added Kos.

Golob is probably in a similar situation, trying to meet the expert needs of individual portfolios in collaboration with coalition partners and available staff.

"One will be able to judge the quality of their work after 100 days in office. We are facing serious global and national challenges," he stressed.

As for the composition of the new government, Kos believes we will get one that could have been expected "given the election outcome and a clear 'anti-Janša' decision".

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