Šoltes's Believe Joining List of New Parties
Aside from Šoltes, a 49-year-old jurist and public procurement expert, who is the sole candidate for the post of party president, little is known about other members of Believe (Verjamem).
Šoltes first confirmed the rumours that he was forming a party almost a year ago, but it was not until shortly before the 25 May Eurovote that he announced he was bidding for election heading a slate that featured no other familiar names.
Nevertheless, the list surprisingly emerged as the strongest contender on the left and the third overall, mustering over 10% of the vote and winning Šoltes a seat in the European Parliament.
Apart from Šoltes, the founding assembly in Kranj will also elect vice-presidents and appoint members of party bodies, but the outfit's spokesman Zvijezdan Mikić would not name any names.
Nor would he go into details about platform guidelines, announcing that a comprehensive manifesto for the general election would be adopted at a convention planned for 16 June.
The outfit's website states a call for a greater involvement of society in the shaping of a better state as the main guideline.
After the founding congress of the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek, the outgoing prime minister, and jurist Miro Cerar's party, Believe is the latest new party emerging in the runup to the general election.
Given the great number of parties left-of-centre, pre-election alliances are likely and Šoltes indicated he would cooperate with Bratušek's party as he addressed their congress on Saturday.