Janša, who was sworn in immediately, now has two weeks to put forward candidates for cabinet posts, which must be confirmed in a separate vote.
If his cabinet is confirmed, Janša will become the prime minister of the tenth Slovenian government. In a brief statement to the National Assembly, Janša thanked his five-party centre-right coalition featuring the SDS alongside the Virant List, People's Party (SLS), Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and New Slovenia (NSi) for the support, which together have 50 MPs in the 90-seat legislature.
"Entering this coalition is a courageous decision," he said, adding that he was also grateful to all those MPs from the other side of the isle who spoke of readiness for cooperation in dealing with the current situation. He expanded on this in a short statement for the press after the session, saying that he is happy that there is broad consensus in parliament about the current state of the Slovenian economy. "This will make it easier to look for and negotiate on solutions...and search for broad consensus with experts outside of political circles," said Janša.
He reiterated that his coalition would work on three priorities: stabilising Slovenia's public finances, restarting the economy and enabling job growth. Saying that he was happy that the first step of forming the new government has been completed, he voiced hope that the second step - appointing the cabinet - will be carried out by 10 February.
"I therefore hope that there will be no undue complications, because they would take more time - time we don't really have," he said, adding that neighbouring Croatia, which also went to the polls on 4 December, already has a functioning government for over a month. Janša has already been congratulated by President Danilo Türk, outgoing Prime Minister Borut Pahor (SocDems) and leader of the opposition Positive Slovenia (PS) Zoran Janković. In a short address, Pahor called for cooperation: "We need each other, we should respect each other and encourage each other. It is unbelievable what good we can achieve - as individuals and as a group."
SOURCE: The Slovenia Times
