Slovenia - Election 2017 - President
Slovenians voted in a presidential election 22 October 2017 that was expected to easily re-elect President Borut Pahor, a veteran politician and former model known for his use of social media. Some 1.7 million voters chose among nine presidential candidates, including five women, for the mainly ceremonial but influential post.
Opinion polls suggested he would win most votes; the question is whether he can gain the 50 percent required to avoid a second round. Among eight challengers, his most likely rival in a run-off was the center-left mayor of Kamnik.
Pahor ran as an independent and said his main task was to bring people together. He used to lead the centre-left Social Democrats and was prime minister for four years from 2008. After the financial crisis the country managed to avoid an international bailout. A former fashion model, his campaign included 25 days walking hundreds of kilometers around the country.
Slovenia's presidency holds no executive power apart from nominal command of the military, but the president proposes the prime minister, who runs the government, and the president's opinion carries weight on important issues.
Slovenian President Borut Pahor won another five-year term in office. Just over a third of the country's 1.7 million voters took part in the ballot 11 November 2017. Pahor received 53 percent of ballots to Sarec's 46 percent, according to the country's electoral commission. Voter turnout in the country of 1.7 million was a record low 37.5 percent. The president's office is largely ceremonial in Slovenia with the prime minister and the parliament holding most of the political power.
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