Seasoned politician Karl Erjavec, who spent more than a decade as minister in centre-left and centre-right governments before quitting politics in 2021, has returned to the political stage by launching a new centrist party that he plans to take to parliament at the next election.

Trust, as the new party is named, was officially launched on 27 November and Erjavec, 64, was elected its leader on a populist platform that promises to restore trust in politics. "The future is built on trust. Without trust, there is no cooperation, and without cooperation, there is no secure future."

Erjavec, who spent two-decades in politics, during which he served as minister of foreign affairs for four years and minister of defence for six, is banking on convincing people that for Slovenia to succeed, seasoned politicians are needed rather than political newcomers.

"For a good politician, experience, political mileage, and even bitter moments are essential," he said. He claims that he had been urged by others to come back, as the "new faces" approach in politics has proven unsuccessful.

Wide-ranging platform

Trust aims to address four key pillars. The first focuses on pensioners and public systems, particularly healthcare and education. The second pillar centres on security and migration, in light of potential increases in migration pressures due to instability in the Middle East.

The third pillar covers the economy and agriculture, including support for flat-rate taxation for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The fourth pillar concerns climate policy, with an emphasis on resilience to natural disasters.

The party is targeting younger people under 30 and older citizens over 50, both of whom Erjavec considers vulnerable groups.

Several people with experience in politics have joined the new party, among them Irena Majcen, who served as environment minister in a centre-left government from 2014 to 2018, and Boris Štefanec, a former head of the Corruption Prevention Commission. Retired diplomat Milan Jazbec was also at the congress.

Illustrious history

Erjavec, often referred to as "Teflon Karl" for his ability to deflect scandal, made his mark on Slovenian politics as the president of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which he led without interruption between 2005 and 2020, when he lost the leadership contest to Aleksandra Pivec.

Pivec's reign was however short-lived and plagued by scandal and Erjavec returned in the same year, only to resign months later in 2021 after he spearheaded a failed bid to unseat Prime Minister Janez Janša that several of his MPs refused to support.

During his time at the helm, DeSUS, a one-issue party focused on pensioner welfare, often acted as kingmaker. It was never a dominant party in parliament but had just enough MPs to tip the scales and enter centre-left or centre-right governments, securing Erjavec senior ministerial posts.

New political players

The new party is the second major centrist project launched this month after former senior Democratic Party (SDS) member Anže Logar started the Democrats. Unlike Logar's, Erjavec's new party has not polled well so far: in a recent POP TV poll, its rating stood at 1.1%, a tenth of Logar's support.

However, unlike Logar, who gradually built his project with a shrewd media campaign that built on his success as runner-up in the 2022 presidential election, Erjavec has been out of the spotlight since 2021 and is likely to work hard to change that narrative.

More party projects are reportedly in the making. Marko Lotrič, president of the upper chamber of parliament, is expected to launch a party early next year. There is mounting speculation that Peter Gregorčič, who strongly outperformed the people's Party (SLS) ratings in this years elections to the European Parliament before falling out with the party leadership, might do the same.

Slovenia has a long history of new parties succeeding in the polls just months after they are formed. Prime Minister Robert Golob's Freedom Movement is just the latest example of this. However, Slovenian history is also littered with failed political projects that never really took off, both on the left and the right of the political spectrum.