In the Race for the Slovenian Parliament: Entertainment Stars, Singers, Actors, Basketball Players

Several Slovenian sports and entertainment stars are running for entry into the new Slovenian parliament in the elections at the beginning of June, and former actor and comedian Marjan Šarec has a party with which he could ascend to the position of prime minister.

The main entertainment asset on the candidate list of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) of Prime Minister Miro Cerar is singer, pianist, and composer Slavko Ivančić, who has an interesting and long music career. Ivančić was born in Crikvenica in 1954, but he experienced his music career after moving to Slovenia, where he first played in the rock group Faraoni and then at numerous festivals, and now he will try his hand at politics for the first time in the electoral unit of Koper.

The same goes for veteran Slovenian music star Lado Leskovar, who will be collecting votes in Ljubljana for the Democratic Party of Pensioners (DESUS) of Karl Erjavac on June 3.

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In the same electoral unit in Ljubljana, actress Violeta Tomič (known to a wider audience as the former host of the quiz ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’) and actor Saša Tabaković will compete for a parliamentary seat on the list of the Left (L) and on the list of Cerar’s party, respectively. The advantage of both actors is that they have rich experience in politics as they are fighting for their second term in parliament.

On the candidate list of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of Janez Janša, opera singer Alenka Gotar, better known as Slovenia’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest nine years ago, is competing for a parliamentary seat. Her opponent in the same electoral unit, but on the list of the Social Democrats (SD), will be the well-known music producer and musician Goran Šarac, who has no family ties to the actor with a similar surname, the mayor of Kamnik, Marjan Šarec.

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Among the athletes placed on candidate lists by various parties this year, basketball players are the most popular, which is understandable given the success of the Slovenian national team that won the European Championship last year.

Former basketball player Peter Vilfan (who also played in the jersey of the former Split Jugoplastika) is fighting for his new term, but with a new party. After Positive Slovenia (PS) in the last elections, this time Vilfan is a candidate for the Democratic Party of Pensioners.

On the candidate list of the same party, led by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs Karl Erejavec, is former basketball player Saša Dončič, now better known as the father of the EuroBasket star, young Luka Dončič.

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Marjan Šarec is also aware of the influence of sports popularity on voters, who has placed former captain of the Slovenian basketball team and coach Dušan Hauptman as a candidate for his List of Marjan Šarec (LMŠ) in one electoral unit. Šarec himself is a trained actor with a degree from the Ljubljana Academy of Theatre and Film, but he has been in politics for several years and is predicted to have a brilliant political career.

According to some pre-election polls, his party is one of the favorites in this year’s elections, along with the Social Democrats (SD) of Dejan Židan and the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of Janez Janša.

If these predictions come true on election day, Šarec could become one of the key players in post-election combinations when it comes to forming a new ruling coalition. Some believe he could also receive a mandate to form a new government, thus complicating matters for the big players, but there is also much speculation about “who really stands” behind his success in the polls and criticism that he is an unknown factor that voters should not risk.