Local Elections: Low Turnout Brought "Old" Faces and Local Sheriffs
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Among the big winners were Ljubljana's Zoran Janković and Koper's Boris Popovič, who managed to overcome several criminal investigations into their dealings to take convincing victories in the first round.
Janković secured nearly 60% of the vote in the capital, according to incomplete unofficial results, to defeat centre-right challenger Damijan Damjanovič, an independent backed by virtually all major right-leaning parties, who won around 22%.
This is Janković's third consecutive term and comes after his Positive Slovenia (PS) party was ousted from parliament in the 13 July general election and reports of ongoing police investigations into alleged improprieties, which he vehemently denies.
While a majority for his list in the city council is not guaranteed, he will likely be able to rule comfortably, as the second-placed Democratic Party (SDS), which backed Damijanovič, won around 13% in second place.
A similar picture emerged from the coastal city of Koper, where Popovič, who was recently convicted for abuse of office by a first instance court, rode the image of a businessman who was able to get things done to his fourth consecutive mayoral term in the coastal city.
Popovič won 55% of the vote to defeat Aleš Bržan of the Party of Miro Cerar (SMC), who took 25%, as the ruling party at the national level struggled to gain traction in the mayoral races.
Indeed, the SMC fielded 40 candidates for mayor across the country, but none was able to win or force a run-off. Still, PM Miro Cerar was happy with the first effort of his party at local level given the short time to prepare following its emergence ahead of the July general election.
The SMC emerged as the second party in a number of the local councils, including in Maribor and Koper, which Cerar said showed it had gained a footprint at local level.
However, the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) rejected this, assessing that the current government forces were given a vote of no-confidence in the poll which usually does not reflect the balance of power at national level.
The SDS emerged as the most successful major party in voting for local councils, winning 14.75%, ahead of the SMC with 10.53%, according to incomplete unofficial results from the National Electoral Commission.
Confirming a trend of recent years, independent mayoral candidates and lists were the preferred choice in many municipalities, winning 82 of the 155 decided mayoral posts and nearly 30% of all local council votes.
The People's Party (SLS), a traditional power in local elections, foremost in the smaller rural municipalities, rebounded from being booted from parliament by picking up 24 mayoral seats in the first round, the most of any party.
The SDS was second with 17, followed by the Social Democrats (SD) with 12 and New Slovenia (NSi) with 7. The Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) won one mayoral seat.
Among the other incumbents winning reelection in city municipalities were Bojan Šrot (SLS) in Celje, Bojan Kontič (SD) in Velenje and Andrej Čas (independent) in Slovenj Gradec.
Incumbent Andrej Fištravec will face a run-off against fellow independent Franc Kangler, who he helped to oust as a prominent face of the winter 2012/2013 protest movement, in Slovenia's second city Maribor.
In nearby Ptuj, incumbent Štefan Čelan (independent) will take on Miran Senčar (independent) in the run-off. In two other battles among independents, incumbent Mohor Bogataj will take on Boštjan Trilar in Kranj and incumbent Matej Arčon will face Luka Manojlović in Nova Gorica.
Meanwhile, multi-party candidate Milena Kramar Zupan (SD, SLS and local list) will take on Gregor Macedoni (independent) in Novo mesto to succeed incumbent Alojzij Muhič, who has decided not to seek another term.
Turnout at the national level was just over 43%, the lowest on record for a local election.