Ljubljana - Miha Kordiš, an MP for the coalition Left, submitted on Monday his bid for the presidential election, announcing he would promote social solidarity. He moreover wants to depart from "NATO groupthink" and strive for the politics of peace, non-alignment and cooperation.

Kordiš told the press that the Left was entering the presidential election with the aim of giving a voice to working people who do not otherwise have a voice in society and politics. "We need a society of organised solidarity that will break with the neoliberal consensus of the last decades," he said.

The 33-year-old believes the public health system is a target for privatisation and that the president should defend the rights of patients and employees in a system where health is a human right.

Kordiš, one of the party's most outspoken MPs, also sees housing for young people as a human right. As president, he would advocate taking flats out of the market and giving people a chance to access housing as a home rather than as a market good.

He would moreover pay special attention to the elderly and the retired, who have already "done their bit" for society. Today, they are left alone with high care bills in nursing homes, said Kordiš.

Meanwhile, commenting to the victory of the Brothers of Italy party in Italy's general election, he said it was as a result of a departure from social solidarity, a departure that has for decades been "feeding the far right", which Kordiš said openly sympathises with Italy's fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

This is one more reason why Kordiš's priorities in foreign policy include a departure from "NATO groupthink" and speaking on behalf of people who are wondering how they will pay their bills and stay warm this winter because of wars being waged abroad.

The Left's leader Luka Mesec added that the party's goal was to represent an alternative and a plan for social solidarity. "Imagine how much we can do if both the government and the president will work for this together," he said.

Kordiš is the seventh candidate to have formally submitted a bit, following musician Gregor Bezenšek, opposition New Slovenia MP Janez Cigler Kralj, Kočevje Mayor Vladimir Prebilič, opposition Democrats (SDS) MP Anže Logar, MEP for the SocDems Milan Brglez, and jurist Pirc Musar. Bids can be submitted until Wednesday.