Slovenian minority member Rojc headlines her party's election list
Ljubljana, 16 August - Tatjana Rojc, the Italian senator and a member of the Slovenian minority in Italy, will headline the list of the Democratic Party (PD) in Friuli-Venezia Giulia for the September parliamentary election in Italy, the Trieste newspaper Primorski Dnevnik reported on Tuesday.
This comes as relief for the minority, whose representation in Italy's legislature is not guaranteed through any specially-tailored mechanisms, unlike in Slovenia, where the Italian and Hungarian minorities each have their own MP.
Being the headliner on the list gives the minority member a realistic chance to make it to the Senate once again, the newspaper Večer pointed out today.
Večer also said that public opinion polls project a high likeliness that Rojc will be re-elected to the Senate in the 25 September election.
The upcoming election will be the first held following legislative changes reducing the number of representatives, further reducing the chances for the minority.
The number of deputies representing Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the Chamber of Deputies will go from 13 to 8, while the number of senators will drop from seven to four.
Rojc was the only member of the Slovenian minority sitting in the Senate in this term. Among other things, she proposed changes to the Constitution which would guarantee a representative for the minority.