In a close referendum vote on Sunday, Slovenian citizens rejected a government-backed bill, delivering a setback to the reform agenda championed by nationalist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose critics have condemned the proposals as authoritarian.
The legislation aimed to broaden the powers of parliamentary inquiry commissions. With 99 percent of ballots counted in the binding vote, 51 percent of voters opposed the measure, while 49 percent supported it.
Under the proposed law, individuals summoned to testify before parliamentary inquiries would have been required to appear immediately, without the right to challenge the summons in court until the commission had finished its proceedings.
The opposition argued that witnesses could be forced to disclose sensitive information, accusing the government of effectively establishing a “political police”.
While media and analysts anticipated low voter turnout, partial results showed participation at 53.7 percent of eligible voters, the highest ever recorded for a Slovenian referendum.
Jansa assumed office after former liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob failed to form a government, despite his party securing a narrow victory in the March parliamentary elections.
The political veteran, known as an admirer of US President Donald Trump, campaigned on a promise of a “cheaper state but with better quality”.
Jansa has suggested reducing public-sector jobs and cutting funding for rights groups, moves that have drawn criticism from political opponents.
In the lead-up to the vote, opposition leader Golob warned that the country’s two million people faced “a real test of how resilient Slovenian democracy is”.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
