| Freedom Movement | |
| Native Name: | Gibanje Svoboda |
| Abbreviation: | GS |
| Chairman: | Robert Golob |
| Leader1 Name: | Vesna Vukovič |
| Leader2 Title: | Vice Chairman |
| Leader2 Name: | Sara Žibrat Matej Arčon |
| Founder: | Jure Leben Robert Golob |
| Founded: |
|
| Predecessor: | Green Actions Party |
| Membership: | 3,000[1] |
| Membership Year: | 2022 |
| Youth Wing: | Freedom Movement Youth |
| Position: | Centre to centre-left[2] |
| Europarl: | Renew Europe |
| Headquarters: | Miklošičeva ulica 7, Ljubljana |
| Seats1 Title: | National Assembly |
| Seats2 Title: | European Parliament |
| Seats3 Title: | Mayors |
| Seats4 Title: | Municipal council |
| Country: | Slovenia |
The Freedom Movement (Slovenian: Gibanje Svoboda, GS) is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. It was founded on 26 January 2022, as the successor of the Party of Green actions (Z.DEJ). At the January congress, Robert Golob was elected as the party's first president and the party received its new identity and name.[3]
In its first parliamentary election, the party placed first, obtaining 41 of the 90 seats in the National Assembly,[4] which is a record for a single party in the history of independent Slovenia. Chairman Robert Golob subsequently became Prime Minister of Slovenia, heading the Golob Cabinet in coalition with the Social Democrats and The Left.[5] Shortly after the elections, the Party of Alenka Bratušek and List of Marjan Šarec merged into the party.[6] [7] [8]
Jure Leben, the former Minister for the environment in the Cabinet of Marjan Šarec, has announced the purpose of establishing a political party in January 2021 in political show Studio City.[9] The party was established on 8 May 2021 and Leben was elected as their first and sole president of the party. The party would look for environmental balance, between industrial progress and preserving the environment.
Jure Leben was elected as the first chairman and Gregor Erbežnik became the vice-chairman. The leadership elected 119 delegates.[10]
The party never received much public support in opinion polling.[11] In January 2022, Leben announced retreat from the party and politics, as he said that he would dedicate his time to his family.
On the 24th of January 2022, Robert Golob, at that time still the Chairman of the board at GEN-I, announced his candidature for the President of the party in decline, its transformation and changing the name to the Freedom Movement.
The congress took place on 26 January 2022,[12] Robert Golob was elected as the president, Urška Klakočar Zupančič as vice-president. Mirta Koželj became the President of the party council. Matej Arčon was elected as general secretary of the party.[13] For the party to protect itself from incited members and hostile takeover attempts, there is a prerequisite for joining the party, which consists of an interview with Robert Golob for every MP candidate[14] [15] Unaffiliated MPs Janja Sluga (previously SMC) and Jurij Lep (previously DeSUS) also joined the party. After the elections, Golob has said that he is ready to partner with KUL, which is their »natural ally«. On the 1st of February he responded to the joint meeting with the parties of KUL.[16]
On the 17th of February, the presidents of the Freedom Movement and LIDE had a meeting; both presidents decided that their parties wouldn't participate with a joint electoral list, but there was still a possibility that there could be someone from LIDE to participate on the Freedom Movement list.[17] On Saturday the 19th of March 2022, there was an election convention of the party, at which they represented their program for the elections and their candidacy list,[18] which included some famous names such as former boxer Dejan Zavec, journalist of RTV Slovenija Mojca Šetinc Pašek, Mayor of Tržič Borut Sajovic, an expert for Nuclear security Miroslav Gregorič, former rector of the University of Ljubljana Igor Papič and orthopedist Danijel Bešič Loredan.[19]
In the 2022 parliamentary elections, the Freedom Movement placed first with 34.5% of the vote and won 41 of the 90 seats in the National Assembly, defeating the Slovenian Democratic Party and its three-term prime minister Janez Janša.[20] The Social Democrats, another centre-left party, announced that they would join a government led by Golob,[21] in addition to The Left, giving him a majority in the legislature and making him Prime Minister of Slovenia, an office he assumed on 25 May 2022. In June 2022, the List of Marjan Šarec and Party of Alenka Bratušek voted in favor of merging into the party, which was approved by the Freedom Movement on 27 June. The official merger was scheduled for the first half of July.[22]
After the merger, the party got representatives in the European Parliament via former members of LMŠ, Irena Joveva and Klemen Grošelj.
The Freedom Movement is a social liberal, green liberal, progressive and pro-European party with a centre-left orientation. The party seeks a balance between industrial progress and environmental preservation through environmental measures.[23] As social measures, the party points out publicly available health care and the increase in the number of employees, the reform of the education system and the digitalisation of schools.[24] According to former party chairman Leben, Slovenia should be able to rank among the 20 globally most competitive countries in the World Economic Forum criteria.
In his introductory speech, Jure Leben also mentioned the closure of "companies that blatantly pollute the environment" Kemis, Eternit, Termite, Ekosistem, the regulation of drinking water in Anhovo, the closure of the Velenje lignite mine (the only one in the country still operating), ban on hydraulic fracturing, the protection of forests and the declaration of an ecological crisis.[25] [26] The party would also introduce a tax on sweetened beverages and non-recycled plastics, while promoting sustainable forms of transport, decentralization and the decarbonisation of Slovenia.
In Croatia, the news portal Index commented that Robert Golob embodies the values of the late Prime Minister and President Janez Drnovšek.[27]