A liberal lawyer and former data privacy commissioner has been elected Slovenia’s first female president after beating her conservative rival in a runoff vote on Sunday.
Political newcomer, Ms. Pirc Musar ran for presidential elections as an independent candidate with the backing of Slovenia’s center-left government. She won almost 54% of the votes against her rival Andze Logar, a right-wing politician, and former foreign minister, according to the election commission data based on around 87% of the total counted votes.
The total turnout among the population of around two million was 49.9%, data shared by the commission showed.
“Slovenia has elected a president who believes in the European Union, in the democratic values on which the EU was founded,” said the 54-year-old Ms. Pirc Musar after her victory.
She highlighted that the world is “facing tough times because of climate change” and that politicians need to step up to preserve the planet for future generations.
“Young people are now putting the responsibility on our political shoulders to take care of our planet so that our next generation, our children, will live in a healthy and clean environment,” she said.
In her acceptance speech, she further noted that her main goal would be to be the president of all Slovenians, bridge political divisions – something she is able to do as a non-partisan candidate – and promote a tolerant dialogue among everyone.
Although Slovenia’s most key nominations have to be confirmed by parliament and the role of president is ceremonial mainly, the future President Pirc Musar will be the commander in chief of the armed forces and will hold the authority to nominate several high-ranking officials, including the central bank governor.
Ms. Musar was hired as a lawyer to protect the interests of Slovenian-born, former US first lady Melania Trump, during Donald Trump’s presidency.