The Left Starts Official Coalition Talks w/Election Winner's Party

The eco-socialist Lewica (The Left) party has started official talks with election winner Robert Golob's centre-left liberal Freedom Movement (GS). This follows approval being given by Lewica's party council to back the executive committee's plan to enter negotiations late last week.

• The Left, which lost four seats in the 24 April vote leaving its total at just five, is seen as a potential but not assured coalition partner to Golob's party.
• The Freedom Movement holds 41 seats in the 90-member National Assembly. It could secure a majority should it reach agreement with the centre-left Social Democrats, which holds seven seats.
• However, The Left's inclusion - potentially on the cards to secure a greater gov't majority - could see a broader left-wing shift in Slovenian gov't policy following two years of right-wing populist rule under outgoing PM Janesz Jansa.
• Last week, Golob identified mid-June as a potential point at which he would like to have a gov't in place with the distribution of ministries agreed to.