The formal proposal was filed by a group of 43 lawmakers led by SDS parliamentary chief Jelka Godec. A parliamentary vote on Janša’s candidacy could come as early as Friday. National Assembly Speaker Zoran Stevanović said he expected “no surprises,” arguing that the coalition already had the numbers needed to secure the politician’s return to office.
The comeback would represent a dramatic political reversal. Incumbent Prime Minister Robert Golob’s Freedom Movement won last March’s national elections by a razor-thin margin, scoring 29 seats to Janša’s 28.
But the liberals failed to build a governing majority after weeks of coalition talks, and last month Golob admitted defeat, resigning himself to being leader of the opposition.
Janša, who previously served as prime minister from 2004 to 2008, 2012 to 2013, and again from 2020 to 2022, is one of Europe’s best-known nationalist leaders and a self-described admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump. He is also known as an anti-immigration hard-liner and has threatened to cut funding for NGOs.
His return would hand the European Union another combative right-wing leader just weeks after Viktor Orbán was pushed out in Hungary, potentially reshaping the bloc’s populist balance of power.