Parliamentary elections were held in Slovenia on 22 March 2026. The elections determined the composition of the National Assembly, which determines the government of Slovenia.
The incumbent coalition government, led by Robert Golob of the Freedom Movement, lost its majority. However, Golob's party narrowly held its position as the largest party, defeating the Slovenian Democratic Party by a single seat.
The 2022 Slovenian parliamentary election held on 24 April resulted in a landslide victory for the newly formed liberal Freedom Movement, led by former energy executive Robert Golob. The party won 34.5% of the vote and 41 seats, the largest number secured by a single party since independence, displacing the incumbent Slovenian Democratic Party government of Prime Minister Janez Janà ¡a. Only five parties entered parliament, the fewest since SloveniaâÂÂs independence.
Golob announced a coalition with the Social Democrats, 7 seats and The Left, 5 seats, giving the coalition a working majority of 53 seats. The coalition agreement was signed on 24 May 2022, and the National Assembly confirmed Golob as prime minister shortly afterward. The 15th Government of Slovenia was sworn in on 1 June 2022, comprising ministers from all three coalition partners.
The next Slovenian parliamentary election is expected to take place on 22 March 2026, following an announcement by President Nataà ¡a Pirc Musar after consultations with parliamentary party leaders. This aligns with the expiry of the four-year term of the National Assembly elected on 24 April 2022.
Under the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the National Assembly Elections Act (Zakon o volitvah v drà ¾avni zbor), the President of Slovenia issues a decree calling parliamentary elections. Regular elections must be called no earlier than 135 days and no later than 60 days before the end of the AssemblyâÂÂs term, and voting must occur no later than two months before its expiry. Once the decree is published in the Official Gazette, formal electoral procedures begin, including the appointment of electoral bodies and updates to voter registration.
Candidate lists must be submitted no later than 30 days before election day, with constituency electoral commissions verifying them within five days. Campaigning is regulated by the Elections and Referendum Campaign Act, which imposes a 48-hour electoral silence before polls open.
If the National Assembly is dissolved early, such as following the failure to elect a Prime Minister or a successful vote of no confidence. The President must call a snap election within 60 days. The new term begins with the AssemblyâÂÂs first session after the vote. For the 2022 parliamentary election, the presidential decree was issued on 9 February 2022, setting the vote for 24 April 2022. The next parliamentary election is expected on 22 March 2026, with the date announced on 22 December 2025.
Citizens of Slovenia who are at least 18 years old on election day are eligible to vote in elections to the National Assembly. Voting rights are universal and equal for all eligible citizens, regardless of social, ethnic, economic, or political affiliation. Individuals deprived of legal capacity by a court decision due to an inability to understand the purpose of elections may be excluded. Slovenian citizens residing abroad also retain voting rights. They may vote by post or at diplomatic and consular missions if they notify authorities within the prescribed deadlines.
Voter registration is automatic and based on the central population register maintained by the Ministry of the Interior. Electoral rolls are compiled 15 days before election day and list voters by their permanent or last registered residence. Voters must cast their ballots at the polling station assigned to them unless eligible for special voting arrangements, such as OMNIA stations for individuals who have changed residence after the roll compilation.
Voting takes place by secret ballot, and Slovenia does not require compulsory voting. Proxy voting is prohibited, except in cases of certified disability where legally defined assistance is permitted. In-person voting is held on election day from 7:00 to 19:00, while limited postal voting is available for hospitalized, detained, or temporarily absent voters who notify the State Election Commission in advance. Members of the Italian and Hungarian national communities possess additional voting rights, enabling them to elect their own representatives in dedicated single-member constituencies, in addition to voting for the remaining 88 deputies under the general system.
The National Assembly consists of 90 members. Of these, 88 are elected through open list proportional representation across eight constituencies, each electing 11 deputies. The remaining two seats are reserved for the Italian and Hungarian minority communities, elected using the plurality voting method. Political parties or lists must surpass the national 4% electoral threshold to qualify for seat allocation. Within each constituency, seats are distributed using the Droop quota method. Voters may cast a preferential vote for a candidate on a party list, influencing the order of election within that list. Remaining seats after constituency allocation are distributed at the national level using the D'Hondt method to maintain proportionality. Although Slovenia is divided into 88 electoral districts, not all districts necessarily elect a deputy, as multiple deputies may be elected from some districts depending on list performance.
Gender quotas apply to candidate lists: at least 35% of candidates must be from each gender, except on three-candidate lists, which must include at least one candidate of each gender. As of October 2025, no amendments have yet been made to the proportional representation system, and the electoral framework remains unchanged from previous elections, despite a referendum approving the introduction of the preferential vote and ongoing public and political calls for a shift toward a two-round majority electoral system.
The following parties and lists have seats in the current National Assembly before the election:
A number of new political parties emerged after the previous election. The first was Pavel Rupar's Voice of Pensioners, founded at its inaugural congress on 20 January 2024 by former SDS MP and Mayor of Trà ¾iàPavel Rupar. Ahead of the 2024 European Parliament election, the satirical party None of the Above was established under the leadership of activist Boris à ½ulj and former The Left MP Violeta TomiÃÂ. In the same year, former foreign minister Anà ¾e Logar began building his own political party, and following his departure from SDS, the party Democrats was formally founded. Another new party, Karl Erjavec - Trust Party, led by four-time DeSUS Minister Karl Erjavec, was established soon afterwards.
In early 2025, Marko LotriÃÂ, President of the National Council, founded his party Focus of Marko LotriÃÂ at an inaugural congress held at Brdo pri Kranju. Later that year, DeSUS and Good State merged into the Party of Generations, led by former Minister of Labor Vlado Dimovski. Former SDS MP Dejan Kaloh founded the party Suvereni, and a party of local lists, Community, was formed under the leadership of Mayor of Hrastnik Marko Funkl.
The party Prerod â Party of Vladimir Prebiliàwas founded by former Mayor of KoÃÂevje, 2022 presidental candidate and MEP Vladimir PrebiliÃÂ, and former The Left MP and another 2022 presidental candidate Miha Kordià ¡ founded the socialist party We, Socialists! Two further projects were reported to be in the process of establishment, The Guard, linked to Catholic podcaster Alen Koman, and Volt Slovenia, as a Slovenian branch of the pan-European federalist movement Volt Europa. Unlike Volt Slovenia, The Guard collected 200 signatures in time to establish a new political party, but failed to collect 100 signatures in each of the 8 electoral districts which would place the party on ballot.
Pre-election alliances, mergers, and cooperation talks reshaped the landscape. Greens of Slovenia first called for the unification of green forces on a joint list. The Left and Vesna â Green Party signed a pre-election agreement announcing a joint run in the election; the cooperation was later formally confirmed by both parties in their internal bodies. Talks about cooperation within this broader left-green axis also included the newly established localist party Community, which is also a potential partner for Prerod, as was Party of Generations until they announced they would contest the election alone. In addition, a public appeal on social media, with the liberal activist Jaà ¡a Jenull urging We, Socialists!, The Left, Vesna, and the Pirates to join forces and establish a United Progressive Front.
On the centre-left, Prerod announced talks with the Social Democrats and related cooperation initiatives on the wider left. However, Prerod later rejected the option of a joint list with SD and announced it would run independently, while leaving open further talks with the Party of Generations, although they later also rejected this option. PrebiliÃÂ also invited the leaders of several centre-left parties to a meeting intended to explore future cooperation, but the meeting did not take place because most invitees declined. Robert Golob invited SD, The Left, We, Socialists!, Pirates, Prerod, Vesna and unexpectedly Resni.ca for talks. Resni.ca rejected the offer and Karl Erjavec claimed that his Karl Erjavec - Trust Party was not invited because it cannot be "cannibalized".
On the centre-right, Concretely merged into Democrats, and New Social Democracy, led by Andrej Magajna, later announced they were in talks about a united participation with Democrats, which was later abandoned and New Social Democracy didn't file to participate in the election. New Slovenia and the Slovenian PeopleâÂÂs Party opened talks on possible joint cooperation, and NSi, SLS, and FOKUS each signed a separate declaration of intent and began coordinating a potential common list and the distribution of constituencies.
On the nationalist side, Suvereni, United Slovenia Movement and Party of Slovenian People, MP Dejan Kaloh, Andrej à  ià ¡ko and Ivan Bolfek, announced efforts to form a "sovereigntistâÂÂpatriotic bloc" and referenced the political action SLOEXIT, proposing Slovenia's withdrawal from the EU and a debate on leaving NATO. Suvereni representatives later appeared at an event organised by Karl Erjavec â Trust Party, where cooperation and the formation of a new parliamentary group were discussed. However, Suvereni subsequently decided to run independently rather than enter an electoral partnership with Karl Erjavec â Trust Party, and United Slovenia Movement and Party of Slovenian People announced the forming of the Coaliton of the United Nations. After DVK rejected KZN's lists in three electoral districts, they withdrew from the election alltogether. Eventually, Suvereni decided to participate on the lists of the Trust Party.
In the centre, Greens of Slovenia and Party of Generations formed an alliance. Among smaller actors, None of This and For a Healthy Society announced plans for a joint electoral list, while Resni.ca was reportedly invited but declined.
The Left were the first to change coordinators when they replaced Luka Mesec with Asta VreÃÂko in 2023. Social Democrats were next when they elected Matjaà ¾ Han as party president, after Tanja Fajon resigned after Litijska Affair. In 2025, several parties reaffirmed their leaders or elected new ones. Slovenian Democratic Party subsequently held its congress, at which Janez Janà ¡a was reconfirmed as party president and continuing his 33-year long streak at the helm of the party. New Slovenia then followed as they elected Jernej Vrtovec as party president, succeeding Matej Tonin. Freedom reaffirmed Robert Golob as party president at its electoral congress. The electoral congress of The Left followed, with current coordinator Asta VreÃÂko and former coordinator Luka Mesec confirmed as co-coordinators. Vesna reconfirmed its co-leadership, with Urà ¡a Zgojznik and Uroà ¡ Macerl continuing as co-presidents.
Robert Golob announced on Instagram a list of four proposed debates with Janez Janà ¡a. Meanwhile, SDS and the bloc formed by NSi, SLS, and FOKUS announced that they would not participate in debates on RTV due to the broadcasterâÂÂs decision not to air the programme TarÃÂa, altough they later reversed their decision. Janà ¡a confirmed his participation only in a debate hosted by the AIDEA podcast, led by Klemen SelakoviÃÂ. He also proposed a public debate format, suggesting venues such as Cankar Centre, Exhibition and Convention Centre, or Maribor. Under his proposal, each candidate would be allowed to bring two journalists to ask questions, while members of the audience would also have the opportunity to participate.
During the pre-election campaign, TV SLO 1 broadcast a total of eight televised election debates, scheduled between 19 February and 19 March. Debates involving parliamentary parties aired on five Thursdays at 8:00 p.m., starting on 19 February, while debates featuring non-parliamentary parties were broadcast on three Mondays at 8:00 p.m., beginning on 2 March. The debates also included thematic programmes focusing on specific policy areas, including healthcare and long-term care, foreign policy and security, as well as the economy, taxation, and wages. The pre-election series concluded with a final debate between the leaders of parliamentary parties on 19 March. On Radio Prvi, election debates was held on Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. between 25 February and 18 March. The final debate brought together representatives of all political parties.
POP TV organised six election debates, broadcast on four Mondays and two Fridays between 23 February and 20 March. Unlike previous election campaigns, the broadcaster recorded most debates on location, including in Koper (23 February), Ljubljana (UKC Ljubljana, 2 March), Novo mesto (6 March), Kranj (9 March), and Maribor (16 March). The final debate, held on the evening before the start of the election silence, will take place in a television studio. On Planet TV, the debate series Slovenia Chooses aired on Sundays at 8:00 p.m., starting on 22 February, and was hosted by Katarina Braniselj and Luka Svetina. On Nova24TV, the election debates were held between 25 February and 18 March, and were hosted by Aleksander Rant.
The weekly programme Pogovori o prihodnosti was hosted by Tomaà ¾ Vesel. It aired on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. on TV Veseljak Golica, on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. on TV Aktual, and on Sundays at 9:30 p.m. on Radio 1 TV. The programme consisted of a series of thirteen interviews with the leaders of political parties. In addition to its traditional large-scale election debates, POP TV also produced eight weekly interviews with party leaders as part of the 24UR news programme. The paired interviews were conducted by journalists from the evening news team à ½ana VertaÃÂnik, Anà ¾e Boà ¾iÃÂ, Marko Gregorc, and Kaja KobetiÃÂ, as well as journalists from the 24ur.com portal, including Urà ¡a Zupan, Mirko VorkapiÃÂ, Natalija à  vab, and Maruà ¡a Slana.
As part of the evening current affairs programme Odmevi on TV SLO 1, profiles of political parties were broadcast between 3 and 16 February 2026. These profiles focused on parties polling above two percent in public opinion surveys ahead of the upcoming elections and consisted of nine approximately fifteen-minute interviews with party leaders, prepared and conducted by the programmeâÂÂs hosts. In February 2026, the online portal Domovina aired the podcast Volitve 2026, hosted by Vida PetrovÃÂiÃÂ. The series presented centrist and centre-right political parties and focused on themes described as being "more oriented towards the survival, future, and development of Slovenia."
Opinion polling for the next Slovenian parliamentary election is being carried out continually by various organisations to gauge voting intention. The dates for these opinion polls range from the 2022 Parliamentary election on 24 April to the present day.
Below is listed Mediana's demographic breakdown.
The election resulted in a hung parliament, with no major party being likely to secure a majority of 46 seats. Freedom Movement (GS) received 28.63% of the vote, while the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) received 27.95% of the vote, creating a gap of 0.68 percentage points, the smallest margin ever between the top two parties in a Slovenian parliamentary election. With GS and SDS winning 29 and 28 seats respectively, the left-leaning bloc led by Golob decreased to 40 MPs and the right-leaning bloc led by Janà ¡a increased to 43 MPs.
In third place was the right-wing coalition of New Slovenia, Slovenian People's Party and Focus taking 9.29% of the vote and winning a total of nine seats (NSi won 7 seats, SLS won 1 seat and Focus won 1 seat). The Social Democrats and Democrats each took around 6.70% of the vote, giving both parties their respective six seats. LeftâÂÂVesna took five seats (The Left won all 5 seats) with 5.58% of the vote, while Resni.ca also took five seats with 5.52% of the vote. Zoran StevanoviÃÂ, leader of Resni.ca, stated that the party was not interested in joining the right-leaning bloc led by Janà ¡a.
Following the election, prime minister Robert Golob said that he would try to create a government of national unity and invited all parties, except SDS, for coalition talks. This offer was rejected by NSi coalition. Leaders of the Democrats and Resni.ca stated that they don't want to be in a government together with The Left.