Winner of the National Assembly elections Robert Golob at a press conference after an informal meeting with the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor in Ljubljana, Slovenia, April 26, 2022. REUTERS / Borut Živulovič

SARAJEVO, May 25 (Reuters) – Slovenian lawmakers on Wednesday confirmed former business director Robert Golob as prime minister-designate after his new party won state elections last month, paving the way for a new government next week.

Fifty-four deputies voted in a secret ballot in support of Golob, a former director of the state-owned energy company that launched green energy projects, which earlier this year became leader of the central environmental party Movement for Freedom, founded last year. Thirty MEPs voted against.

“People expect hope,” Golob said in an address to parliament. “If I make an effort, I will strive to give people hope for a better future,” he said.

As he said, the first priority of his government will be to create a just welfare state in which everyone will have access to health care and a society based on solidarity and knowledge.

Golob said rising energy and food prices are a pressing issue, but his government will work hand in hand with producers to achieve stability in supply and prices by the autumn.

His Liberation Movement, which defeated populist former Prime Minister Janez Jansa in an election on Tuesday, formed a formal coalition with the Social Democrats and the Left, which has a total of 53 seats in the 90-member parliament.

Reporting by Daria Sito-Sučić; Editing Alistair Bell

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