National Council President Marko Lotrič, a successful businessman, has started a new business-friendly party just over a year before Slovenia is due to hold the next general election.

Called Focus, the party plans to prioritize a strong economy, lower taxes, and balanced regional development to bring about a vision of a successful and just Slovenia, Lotrič said at the founding congress on 18 January.

Lotrič was elected party leader and his top aide in the upper chamber of parliament, Monika Kirbiš Rojs, was elected secretary general. He said that Focus was formed out of a desire for a different, efficient politics, he and Kirbiš Rojs having all to often experienced good proposals being overlooked.

Focus promises to be pragmatic rather than ideological. "Slovenia needs common sense in politics, it needs determination," reads the manifesto.

Lotrič is convinced that the party is not just another political alternative but a force for change that can help shape a better future.

Rooted in business

Born in 1963, Lotrič was elected to the upper chamber in 2022 as a representative of business after having led Lotrič Meroslovje, a Slovenian market leader in metrology testing, ince 1991. On turning 60, he handed the company over to his youngest daughter.

He wants Focus to address a wide range of voters, but expects his core voters to come from the business community.

His career path mirrors that of his predecessor Alojz Kovšča, likewise a businessman. Kovšca had a small pro-business called Economically Active Party (GAS) that he merged with another small party in 2021 to contest the general election.

Called Concretely, the merged party however failed to enter parliament in 2022. A four-party coalition of which it was a part got 3.4% of the vote, just shy of the 4% threshold to enter parliament, raising questions about the potential electoral reach of business-centric parties that claim to eschew ideology.

Possible centre-right alliance

Focus is not the only pro-business party in an increasingly crowded field. The conservative New Slovenia (NSi) has a strong pro-business stance, as does the much larger Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of former Prime Minister Janez Janša.

The Democrats, former by an SDS splinter group led by former Foreign Minister Anže Logar late last year, have made business-friendly policies a major part of their platform as well.

Nevertheless, these parties appear to see it as a complementary force: guests at the founding congress included NSi leader Matej Tonin, Logar, SDS vice-president Aleš Hojs and senior members of several other small conservative parties.

Logar and Tonin see Focus not so much as competition but as "a leap forward" and as "bringing together constructive forces for the benefit of Slovenia", respectively.