EditJanša bets on superreferendum to remake Slovenia
The Prime Minister seeks early public mandate for sweeping changes to judiciary oversight, welfare, public media and local voting
Prime Minister Janez Janša’s newly installed conservative government is moving aggressively to reshape Slovenia’s institutional and social landscape, placing its hopes on an unprecedented “superreferendum day” scheduled for 11 October.
By packing four separate votes into a single ballot, the ruling coalition aims to convert early-term public sentiment into a political mandate for reforms that would alter the balance between parliament and the courts, redefine the financing of public broadcasting, tighten conditions for social assistance and restrict who may vote in local elections.
The strategy reflects a clear determination to transform the country while the government still enjoys the momentum of its recent return to power – even though Janša’s SDS won with a paper-thin majority.
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The initiative marks one of the most ambitious uses of direct democracy in Slovenia’s recent history. Parliament has already fixed 11 October as the date for a legally binding referendum on amendments to the Parliamentary Investigations Act. Civil society organisations collected the required signatures to force the vote after criticising the changes as a threat to judicial independence. The government maintains that the revisions simply prevent procedural tactics from paralysing legitimate parliamentary oversight. Opponents, including centre-left parties and non-governmental groups, counter that the amendments lower constitutional safeguards and open the door to politically motivated probes. Because this referendum is binding, a rejection would prevent parliament from adopting substantially similar legislation for at least a year.
Alongside the binding question, the coalition has proposed three consultative referendums whose results would carry political rather than legal force. Voters would be asked whether social welfare payments for able-bodied recipients should be conditioned on community work, whether the mandatory licence fee that funds public broadcaster RTV Slovenija (RTS) Slovenija should be abolished, and whether municipal voting rights should be limited to Slovenian and other European Union citizens, excluding third-country nationals. Those risking to be excluded are mostly from former Yugoslavia.
During Janša’s previous term as prime minister, the struggle over RTS was intense. His government was widely accused of subordinating the public broadcaster to political control. After that period, RTS regained greater independence. Critics now say the pendulum is swinging back the other way.
Democratic Party deputy Luka Simonič has openly labelled the combined ballot a “super referendum day,” describing it as both a political signpost at the start of the government’s term and an overture to the local elections due in November. Coalition figures insist the consolidation reduces administrative costs and maximises turnout, while giving citizens an early opportunity to pronounce on central elements of the governing programme.
A mandate for structural change
The government’s framing of the day is explicit: positive outcomes would supply the political capital needed to translate consultative results into concrete legislation. In the case of local voting rights, the proposal arrives even though parliament has already passed a law restricting the franchise of third-country nationals. That legislation remains suspended after non-governmental organisations launched a separate referendum initiative against it. By placing a parallel consultative question on the October ballot, the coalition seeks additional public endorsement for a measure that has already faced legal and civic resistance.
Slovenia’s constitutional tradition treats binding legislative referendums as instruments that can overturn or block parliamentary acts, while consultative votes function primarily as indicators of public opinion. Janša’s team appears determined to exploit both categories. By gathering four questions on one day, the government hopes to generate a broader sense of popular legitimacy for its reform agenda than any single vote could provide. Critics have already denounced the move as an exercise in political mobilisation, arguing that bundling disparate issues risks confusing voters and diluting genuine debate. The opposition portrays the superreferendum as an attempt to manufacture a mandate rather than to seek genuine consultation.
Parallel battle over Omnibus reforms
Even as the October ballot takes shape, a second front has opened over an omnibus law adopted in late May that packages extensive tax cuts with changes to pensions, healthcare, labour relations and the welfare system. Trade unions, supported by opposition parties and civic groups, collected more than 47,000 signatures seeking a referendum on the package. Parliament initially rejected the request, citing constitutional prohibitions on referendums concerning taxes and mandatory contributions. On 4 August the Constitutional Court annulled that decision by a 7-1 majority, ruling that many provisions address broader policy questions that cannot be shielded from popular vote merely because they were combined with tax measures. The judges also criticised the government’s use of an omnibus format, warning that packing unrelated reforms into a single bill risks undermining citizens’ constitutional right to demand a referendum.
Signature collection for the omnibus challenge is now scheduled to begin on 1 September. If the required 40,000 valid signatures are gathered, parliament will be obliged to schedule yet another nationwide vote. Prime Minister Janša has responded sharply, arguing that Slovenians should be allowed to decide whether they support lower taxes, higher wages and pensions, and reduced living costs. Business organisations have expressed concern that further delays could harm competitiveness. The Constitutional Court’s intervention nevertheless underscores the limits of parliamentary majorities when systemic social-policy changes are at stake.
Taken together, the October superreferendum and the looming contest over the omnibus law reveal a government intent on using direct democracy as both a shield and a sword. By seeking early popular endorsement for sensitive institutional and social reforms, Janša aims to lock in a transformative agenda before opposition forces and civic mobilisation can fully organise.
Sources: STA, Radio Si, The Region, BGNES
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Caption: Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Jansa arrives for the European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 18 June 2026. European leaders are gathering in Brussels for a two-day meeting packed with pressing geopolitical and economic issues. EPA/OLIVIER MATTHYS
Updated: August 7, 2026 - 10:29
