Natasa Pirc Musar, a liberal rights advocate, has won a run-off election to become Slovenia’s first female president, vowing to heal the country’s profound left-right divide.
With nearly all of the votes counted in the small European Union nation on Sunday, Pirc Musar led Slovenia’s conservative former Foreign Minister Anze Logar by 54 percent to 46 percent.
Her triumph strengthens the country’s liberal bloc, which was strengthened by the center-left coalition’s success in the April legislative election in Slovenia.
“My first task will be to open a dialogue among all Slovenians,” she said as her election team celebrated. “In the democratic election, Slovenians have shown what kind of a country they want.”
“All my life I’ve advocated the same values: democracy, human rights, tolerance. It’s time to stop dealing with the past. Many things have to be done in the future,” she declared.
Logar conceded defeat, saying he hopes Pirc Musar “will carry out all the promises” that she made during the campaign.
Pirc Musar, 54, will be Slovenia’s first female president since the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
A prominent lawyer, Pirc Musar had represented former US First Lady Melania Trump in copyright and other cases in her native Slovenia.
In the first round of voting two weeks ago, she trailed Logar. However, because none of the seven competitors in the first round received more than 50% support to claim undisputed win, Logar and Pirc Musar were forced to participate in a run-off.
Slovenian analysts projected that moderate and liberal voters would support Pirc Musar.
Pirc Musar will succeed President Borut Pahor, a centrist politician who has served two terms.
While the president in Slovenia is mostly ceremonial, the head of state is nonetheless regarded as a person of authority.
Before being elected to parliament, presidents appoint members of the anti-corruption commission and nominate prime ministers and members of the constitutional court.
Logar, 46, served under former populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who moved Slovenia to the right while in power and faced accusations of undemocratic and divisive policies.
aljazeera
