Slovenia is set to see their first female head of state following a concession by conservative candidate Anze Logar. Polls closed on Sunday with 1.7 million votes from a country of 2 million people. Logar, the central European country's former government's Foreign Minister, had collected about 34% of the votes when 80% of the ballots were counted, according to an American news outlet.
According to a British news source, when 98% of the votes were counted, Pirc Musar---a liberal lawyer and former data privacy commissioner backed by Slovenia's center-left government---was in the lead with 54% of the vote, while Logar carried 46% of the vote.
"Natasa Pirc Musar becomes the fifth president of Slovenia and the first female president, I congratulate her," Logar said in a briefing, thanking those who voted for him and his contender. He added that Musar would be a good head of state on the condition that she becomes a "leader of all citizens."
Slovenian presidents are elected for a five-year term and can serve up to two consecutive terms. And while the role of president is mostly ceremonial in Slovenia, Pirc Musar has vowed to intervene in the politics of her country when she deems it necessary. And has proposed that Slovenia will form deeper partnerships with other European countries whose values rest in human rights and constitutional values.
“I have never been quiet when it was necessary to speak up, especially not in the last two years”, she said when she entered the presidential race in September. “After the last Janez Janša government took over I spoke out, because the rule of law was falling apart before our very eyes.”