Jansa blow as exit polls show opposition victory in Slovenian election

Exit polls in Slovenia's parliamentary election on Sunday suggested an opposition liberal party won by a landslide, dealing a major defeat to populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who was accused of pushing the small European Union country to the right while in office.

The polls, conducted by the Mediana polling agency and published by public broadcaster TV Slovenia and commercial Pop TV, showed opposition Freedom Movement won 35.8% of support compared with the ruling conservative Slovenian Democratic Party's 22.5%.

Trailing behind the top two contenders were the New Slovenia party with 6.8%, followed by the Social Democrats with 6.6% and the Left party with 4.4%. The polls have proven reliable in the past.

If confirmed in an official tally, the result means that the Freedom Movement, a newcomer in the election, stands likely to form the next government in a coalition with smaller centre-left groups. The party leader addressed supporters via a video message from his home because he has COVID-19.

“Tonight people dance,” Robert Golob told the cheering crowd at the party headquarters. “Tomorrow is a new day and serious work lies ahead.”

Jansa posted a message to supporters on Twitter, saying only “thank you for your vote”.

About 1.7 million citizens of the small Alpine nation with the right to vote had to choose from an array of parties running for seats in the 90-member legislature.

Janša's conservative Slovenian Democratic Party, SDS, and newly formed Freedom Movement led in the polls ahead of the vote.

Janša became prime minister a little over two years ago after the previous liberal premier resigned. An open admirer of former US President Donald Trump and a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Janša has pushed