Slovenian parliament gains new faction

Anže Logar and Eva Irgl, two of the three MPs that split away from the largest opposition party last year, have formed a new faction in parliament with Tine Novak, a little-known MP who defected from the ruling Freedom Movement. While they will get benefits that a deputy group brings they will not be able to call themselves Democrats like the party formed by Logar, a former foreign minister, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

At least three MPs are needed for a deputy group, which was what Logar had planned from the start but then hit a snag when he fell out with Dejan Kaloh, another MP who quit the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) in October 2024, but then failed to join Logar in his Democrats.

Late in January news broke that an MP for the Freedom Movement, Tine Novak, informed the party that he was leaving to join Logar, allowing the latter to set up a deputy group, which brings several benefits, most notably money for aides and the chance to get seats on parliamentary committees.

Across-the-aisle alliance

Novak's move took the Freedom Movement by surprise with the party's deputy group leader Nataša Avšič Bogovič saying they were all the more disappointed because he was joining Logar's Democrats.

"This is a right-wing party - that is clear to everyone - it is an extension, a satellite, a party that will one day, if it gets the chance, certainly participate in a Janez Janša government," Avšič Bogovič said, referring to the SDS leader and three-time former PM.

Days after dropping the bombshell Novak said he had decided to defect to be able to do more for his native northeastern region of Pomurje, where he was elected in 2022. He said he had been expressing his dissatisfaction over the lack of interest in Pomurje for a long time, and saw potential for creating a community promoting strong and connected regions in the Democrats.

Meanwhile, Logar revealed that he and Novak had started working together in a delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). "I helped him with my connections to get the post of OSCE special envoy for artificial intelligence," Logar said.

Novak denied the allegation that he had decided to help Logar form a new parliamentary group in exchange for the favour, noting that as a result of his defection he automatically lost the OSCE post. But the country's anti-graft watchdog said it would examine their cooperation for potential breaches.

Faction not to have chosen name

In a blow to the new faction, National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič decided on 11 February that while the conditions had been met for them to form a deputy group, they cannot name it according to their wishes on the grounds that they had not been elected to parliament on the same party ticket.

Like the speaker, who comes from the Freedom Movement, the SDS argued that the conditions for the group to name themselves Democrats had not been met, even though the National Assembly's legal office explained that being elected on the same slate was not a requirement in forming such a group.

Logar described the development as "political dribbling" and an expression of fear of the Democrats. He expects that more spanners will be thrown in their works, but insisted on them calling themselves the Democrats and be active in parliament with their proposals.

Little disruption to balance of power

With the new faction, the number of deputy groups in the 90-member National Assembly has increased to seven. They are joining the three ruling coalition factions (Freedom Movement, Social Democrats and the Left), two opposition deputy groups (SDS and New Slovenia) and the group comprising two MPs representing Italian and Hungarian minorities. There are also two independent MPs.

The balance of power has not been really disrupted. As the largest faction the Freedom Movement started out with 41 MPs and now has 39, after expelling one MP in October 2023 and now losing Novak. With the junior partners the coalition have 51 seats between them, down from 53 at the start of the term, but the Left also includes a rebel MP who does not always back government proposals.

Freedom Movement leader, PM Robert Golob downplayed the significance of Novak's defection, saying the deputy group remained united.