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DE RUEHLJ #0662/01 2921007
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P 191007Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6194
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 LJUBLJANA 000662 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS SNAPSHOT 
 
Ref: Ljubljana 513 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Slovenia's Presidential election will take place this 
Sunday, October 21. The State Electoral Commission has confirmed the 
candidacies of seven citizens.  The top two finishers will go to a 
second round on November 11 if neither garners over 50 percent of 
the vote.  Polls still predict European Parliamentarian Lojze 
Peterle to make it to the second round, although he might lose in 
the second round to his opponent, likely to be former UN high-level 
official Danilo Tuerk, but possibly former Central Bank Governor 
Mitja Gaspari.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) While the candidates have been holding debates and 
campaigning across Slovenia, these elections are not attracting a 
huge amount of national, much less international, attention.  The 
President of the Republic of Slovenia, elected for a five year term 
and for a maximum of two consecutive terms, is its Head of State and 
the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces of Slovenia.  Everybody 
expects the elections to be free and fair, although there has been 
concern about ballots distributed to Slovenian voters living abroad. 
 First the State Electoral Commission sent ballots only to Slovene 
citizens living abroad who had expressed a wish to vote (approx. 
5,000).  But, after a subsequent closed-door discussion by the 
Electoral Commission, an additional 50,000 ballots were sent to 
voters residing abroad.  There is a strong belief among Slovene 
voters that a great majority of votes coming from abroad would be in 
favor of the right of center candidate Peterle. 
 
¶3.  (U) The State Electoral Commission used a lottery to determine 
the order of candidates on the ballot for the October 21 
Presidential elections.  It is as follows: 1. Darko Kranjc; 2. Zmago 
Jelincic; 3. Mitja Gaspari; 4. Danilo Tuerk; 5. Elena Pecaric; 6. 
Monika Piberl; and 7. Lojze Peterle.  The government will set up a 
press center in Ljubljana on Election Day to cover the elections. 
 
Snapshot of candidates 
---------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)   Darko Kranjc 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  09 May 1975 in Maribor. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  President of the Youth Party of 
Slovenia (SMS), non-parliamentarian, considered to be center- left. 
 
CONSTITUENCIES:  SMS loyalists and possibly fresh voters. 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Not very supportive; he would keep the best 
companies in State hands. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Supports but would give priority to domestic 
companies. 
 
--FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - Care for environment, withdrawal from 
NATO, protection of human rights. 
 
PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD:  President of SMS since 2004; before that he 
was president of the Student Organization of Slovenia. 
 
EDUCATION: MA in Social Work. 
 
FAMILY: Not married but has a partner. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English (fluent). 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST:  He spent his childhood in a 
foster family and is vice-president of the Foster families 
Association of Slovenia. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Zmago Jelincic Plemeniti 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  07 January 1948 in Maribor. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  President of the Slovene National 
Party (SNS), a barely-defined political party that is currently in 
the opposition. 
 
CONSTITUENCIES:  SNS loyalists and other nationalists. 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
 
LJUBLJANA 00000662  002 OF 004 
 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Supportive, but with Slovene owners. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Supports if it suits him for his personal 
interests. So, he would support Hit-Harrah's investment if they 
sponsor construction of aviation museum in Ajdovscina (he is the 
president of the Aviation Association of Slovenia). 
 
 FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - Relations with Croatia and other 
neighbors. 
 
PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD:  President of SNS since its foundation in 
March 1991; previously he established a pharmaceutical company that 
closed down after the collapse of former Yugoslavia. 
 
EDUCATION: High school graduate (pharmacy). 
 
FAMILY: Married twice, with two daughters and a son from the first 
marriage. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English (fluent), Serbian (fluent). 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST:  He is a lifetime member of 
National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and a member of American 
Pharmaceutical Association (AphA). He is a strong personality who 
personifies his party.  He and his party strongly opposed Slovene 
integration into EU, however, he often changes his beliefs according 
to his personal benefits. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mitja Gaspari 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  25 November 1951 in Ljubljana. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  Not affiliated with, but supported by 
the Liberal Democrats of Slovenia (LDS) (in the opposition). 
 
CONSTITUENCIES:  LDS loyalists and some bankers. 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Supports gradual approach. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Strongly supports foreign investments to 
increase competition. 
 
--FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - EU presidency, Western Balkans, 
neighbors. 
 
PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD:  Governor of the Bank of Slovenia, Minister 
of Finance, employee of the World Bank in Washington where he lived 
for one year (1991 - 1992). 
 
EDUCATION: MD in Economics. 
 
FAMILY: Married. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English (fluent), Serbian (fluent). 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST: Gaspari is expert in finance and 
banking and one of the ones most responsible for Slovenia's 
successful entrance into Euro zone.   Gaspari is currently placing 
third in the polls.  He is widely respected, but not viewed as being 
in touch with the common Slovenian. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Danilo Tuerk 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  19 February 1952 in Maribor. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  Not affiliated with, but supported by 
the center-left opposition parties of: Social Democrats (SD), Zares 
- New Politics, as well as the Democratic Party of Pensioners of 
Slovenia (DeSUS), which is in the coalition. 
 
CONSTITUENCIES:  SD, Zares, DeSUS loyalists, and intellectuals. 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Supports gradual approach. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Supports foreign investments. 
 
--FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - EU presidency, protection of human 
rights, Western Balkans, neighbors, environment. 
 
PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD:  Assistant to the Secretary General of the UN 
for Political Affairs, Slovene Ambassador to UN in New York, 
Professor of International Law at Ljubljana University. 
 
LJUBLJANA 00000662  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
EDUCATION: PhD in International Law. 
 
FAMILY: Married, with daughter. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English (fluent), Serbian (fluent). 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST: He is a Slovene diplomat with 
great experience.  Notably, he led the Slovene Mission to the UN in 
New York during Slovenia's presidency of the Security Council in 
¶1999.  He has been gaining recently in the polls, but he and Gaspari 
will likely split the center-left vote. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Elena Pecaric 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  6 October 1971 in Ljubljana. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  Not affiliated 
 
CONSTITUENCIES: Partial support from organizations of disabled. 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Supports gradual approach. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Supports foreign investments. 
 
--FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - Protection of human rights, protection 
of environment. 
 
OFFICES HELD:  Currently she is the President of the Association for 
Theory and Culture of Handicap, where she is responsible for project 
"Independent Life of Disabled." 
 
EDUCATION: BA in Philosophy and in Sociology of Culture. 
 
FAMILY: Not married but has a partner. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English. 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST: She is the first among the 
disabled to run for president in independent Slovenia. Some 
organizations for the disabled support her candidacy as a showcase, 
to demonstrate that the disabled can enter politics actively. 
Because of internal disputes in the Slovene Association of Disabled, 
some are very negative about her exposure to the public. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Monika Piberl 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  4 January 1950 in Maribor. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  President of the Voice of Women of 
Slovenia, a non-parliamentary party. 
 
CONSTITUENCIES: Members of her party and local supporters. 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Supports. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Supports. 
 
--FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - Support for peace, promotion of 
Slovenia as a "country of honest, hard working" people. 
 
PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD:  She worked for  a private company and after 
retirement established her political party. 
 
EDUCATION: High school graduate. 
 
FAMILY: Married with two children. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: N/A. 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST: She established the Voice of 
Women of Slovenia to counter the announcement made by a Labor 
Minister in (1998) that women would have to work until the age of 
¶65. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Lojze Peterle 
 
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH:  5 July 1948 in Cuznja vas Dolenjska. 
 
POLITICAL PARTY/AFFILIATION:  member of the New Slovenia (NSi) - 
basically a Christian Democratic party, which is in the coalition). 
 
 
LJUBLJANA 00000662  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
CONSTITUENCIES: All parties from the leading coalition, except 
DeSUS, have expressed support for his candidacy (SDS, NSi, and 
SLS). 
 
POSITION ON KEY ISSUES: 
 
--PRIVATIZATION - Supports. 
 
--FOREIGN INVESTMENT - Supports. 
 
--FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES - EU presidency, relations with 
neighbors, Western Balkans. 
 
PREVIOUS OFFICES HELD:  He was the first Slovene Prime Minister 
after Slovenia's first democratic elections in 1990, Foreign 
Minister twice, and is currently a member of the European 
Parliament. 
 
EDUCATION: BA in Geography and History. 
 
FAMILY: Married with three children. 
 
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Fluent in English, French, German, Russian, 
Italian, Serbian, and Croatian. 
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF INTEREST: He was the Prime Minister of 
Slovenia right after independence and won a battle with cancer some 
years ago. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) There are three frontrunners for the position: Lojze 
Peterle, Mitja Gaspari, and Dr. Danilo Tuerk.  According to public 
opinion polls conducted by different media, and also according to 
some political commentators, two things are more or less clear: 
Peterle will win in the first round, but not with an absolute 
majority, so there will be a second round of voting scheduled for 
November 11.  In the second round Tuerk or Gaspari, who are both 
considered politically oriented more left than right, have better 
chances to win significant votes from each other in a second round 
against Peterle.  So, the percentage Peterle gets in the first round 
will be key.  If he gets less than 40 percent he will have serious 
trouble winning in the second round.  END COMMENT. 
 
COLEMAN