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The 54-year-old former PM, whose government collapsed in March over corruption allegations against him, was backed in a nearly unanimous 522:11 vote.

In his address to the congress earlier in the day, Janša identified the continuing dominance of "red monopolies" as the main reason for the country's problems, forecasting their imminent demise and saying the SDS will continue its path across "the red sea of Slovenia's transition".

"We are still in the middle of the red sea. In an economic and social crisis," Janša told around 1,000 participants, including 560 of the SDS's 620 delegates.

Echoing the main points of a resolution adopted at the congress, Janša spoke of a failed transition featuring power monopolies that are undermining the rule of law and equal standards for everyone, preventing thousands of competent individuals from managing public affairs.

Dismantling these monopolies, which he argued are rooted in a 24 years old act enabling the privatisation of public companies to the benefit of Communist officials, is a key condition for exiting the crisis, which is at the same time putting the "red monopolies and their privileges" in peril.

Speaking of a two-year period of final decay "or moral and financial bankruptcy of red monopolies", he said that "the reality of the empty wallet will come to dominate soon".

He feels that the only urgent strategic decision is insisting on membership in the eurozone and the observing of shared rules.

Janša moreover spoke of what he sees as an obvious "red" domination of the judiciary and the media, established with stolen capital and for instance apparent in what he described as a miraculous disappearance of poverty-related topics from the media as soon as the new government took over.

Janša also mounted an attack against the new left-leaning government, saying its policy of tax hikes was completely misguided.

Meanwhile, apart from the "Society of Freedom and Responsibility", which calls among other things for a switch to a majority election system that would secure more equality, fairness, transparency, responsibility, stability and effectiveness, the SDS adopted a series of minor resolutions.

These promote patriotism, the need to restore trust in Slovenia abroad, invest in the young and provide new jobs, among other things.