Constitution:
adopted 23 December 1991
Legal system:
based on civil law system
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed)
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Janez DRNOVSEK (since 22 December 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Janez JANSA (since 9 November
2004)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and
elected by the National Assembly
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); election last held 10 November and 1
December 2002 (next to be held in the fall of 2007); following
National Assembly elections, the leader of the majority party or the
leader of a majority coalition is usually nominated to become prime
minister by the president and elected by the National Assembly;
election last held 9 November 2004 (next National Assembly elections
to be held October 2008)
election results: Janez DRNOVSEK elected president; percent of vote
- Janez DRNOVSEK 56.5%, Barbara BREZIGAR 43.5%; Janez JANSA elected
prime minister; National Assembly vote - 57 to 27
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consisting of a National Assembly or Drzavni
Zbor (90 seats; 40 are directly elected and 50 are selected on a
proportional basis; note - the number of directly elected and
proportionally elected seats varies with each election; the
constitution mandates one seat each for Slovenia's Hungarian and
Italian minorities; members are elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms) and the National Council or Drzavni Svet (40 seats;
this is primarily an advisory body with limited legislative powers;
it may propose laws, ask to review any National Assembly decisions,
and call national referenda; members - representing social,
economic, professional, and local interests - are indirectly elected
to five-year terms by an electoral college)
elections: National Assembly - last held 3 October 2004 (next to be
held October 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - SDS 29.1%, LDS 22.8%,
ZLSD 10.2%, NSi 9%, SLS 6.8%, SNS 6.3%, DeSUS 4.1%, other 11.7%;
seats by party - SDS 29, LDS 23, ZLSD 10, NSi 9, SLS 7, SNS 6, DeSUS
4, Hungarian and Italian minorities 1 each
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly on the
recommendation of the Judicial Council); Constitutional Court
(judges elected for nine-year terms by the National Assembly and
nominated by the president)
Political parties and leaders:
Liberal Democratic Party or LDS [Jelko KACIN]; New Slovenia or NSi
[Andrej BAJUK]; Slovenian Democratic Party or SDS [Janez JANSA];
Slovenian Democratic Pensioners' Party or DeSUS [Karl ERJAVEC];
Slovene National Party or SNS [Zmago JELINCIC]; Slovene People's
Party or SLS [Janez PODOBNIK]; Slovene Youth Party or SMS [Darko
KRANJC]; Social Democrats or SD [Borut PAHOR]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, EIB,
EMU, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC,
IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA,
NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE,
PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WEU
(associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Samuel ZBOGAR chancery: 1525 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 667-5363 FAX: [1] (202) 667-4563 consulate(s) general: Cleveland, New York