Record number of women vying for presidential post this year
Ljubljana, 5 October - The last time Slovenian voters were choosing among nine candidates in presidential election was in 2002, but never before has there been five women vying for the post. This is also the first time that women candidates outnumbered men in the presidential race.
Ljubljana
Presidential candidate Suzana Lara Krause of the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS).
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
Ljubljana
Education Minister Maja Makovec Brenčič, the presidential candidate of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), presents her manifesto to the press at GH Union.
Photo: Bor Slana/STA
Slovenska Bistrica
NSi head Ljudmila Novak speaks at a party congress dedicated to the 22 October presidential election, at which some 600 delegates are expected to endorse party leader Ljudmila Novak's presidential bid.
Photo: Gregor Mlakar/STA
Ljubljana
Romana Tomc, the candidate for Slovenian president of the opposition Democrats (SDS), submits her presidential bid with the National Electoral Commission.
Photo: Bor Slana/STA
Ljubljana
Presidential candidate Angelca Likovič of the non-parliamentary party Voice for Children and Families giving a news conference at the party premises.
Photo: Daniel Novaković/STA
Ljubljana
Casting a vote in election.
Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
This year's record number of women competing equals the total number of women running in all presidential elections to date.
Not a single women stood in the 1997 elections, which featured eight presidential candidates, or in 2012, when three candidates competed for the presidential post.
In the first presidential election in 1992, six men and two women stood for the office. Darja Lavtižar Bebler of the Socialist Party and Alenka Žagar Slana of the National Democrats got less than 2% support. Milan Kučan won the election in the first round of the vote.
Two women candidates also stood in the 2007 election, when Danilo Türk won in the second round. Activist for the disabled Elena Pečarič from the Acacias party and Monika Piberl from the Voice of Women of Slovenia finished at the bottom with 0.90% and 0.48%, respectively, and were preceded by five men.
In 2002, Barbara Brezigar, the only woman competing among nine candidates, achieved a much better result. Supported by the right-of-centre Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), she won 30.8% of the vote in the first round, and competed against Janez Drnovšek in the second, when she received 43.48% of the vote.
This year, NSi leader Ljudmila Novak is running with her party's support, the ruling Modern Centre Party (SMC) fielded Education Minister Maja Makovec Brenčič, pensioner Angela Likovič was put forward by the non-parliamentary Voice for Children and Families, the opposition Democratic Party (SDS) proposed MEP Romana Tomc and entrepreneur Suzana Lara Krause is the candidate of the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS).
The five women are competing against Kamnik Mayor Marjan Šarec, who is backed by his List, incumbent President Borut Pahor, who is running as independent although backed by the Social Democrats (SD), Koper Mayor Boris Popovič of his non-parliamentary Slovenia Forever and Andrej Šiško of the United Slovenia Movement non-parliamentary party.