The coalition Citizens' List (DL) will hold a party congress to elect a new leader after Gregor Virant stepped down due to the party's disastrous showing in the elections to the European Parliament.
MP Bojan Starman has been nominated for the top post as has Virant, but Virant has not yet consented to returning to the helm of the party that he founded, after indicating he was withdrawing from politics.
The DL got only 1.16% of the vote on 25 May, but it has been in decline ever since it was founded by Virant ahead of the 2011 general election, when it came from nothing to grab over 8% of the vote.
It has been plagued by Virant's ethics problems and the perceived departure from its libertarian roots, which had earned it support from several high-profile economists who later abandoned it.
The party will also overhaul its programme, but the programme guidelines have not yet been revealed.
The congress is seen as an attempt to turn the party around and potentially tie it up with other players on the centre-left who have been busy seeking alliances to prevent voter fragmentation.
Source: SloveniaTimes
