The party plans to announce the reason for the change and the name of the new nominee on Thursday.

The present nominee Tugomir Kodelja received support from coalition members in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the national assembly. Ten members voted in favor of Kodelja, while five voted against the nominee.

According to the President of the Confederation of Public Sector Labor Unions and the Secretary General of the SVIZ Teachers’ Union Branimir Štrukelj, the withdrawal of the nominee makes sense: “Kodelja would more likely have turned out to be a burden and a credibility problem for the new government rather than an asset, at least that was my impression yesterday,” Štrukelj told the Slovenian Press Agency.

The hearing on Tuesday lasted more than six hours. Kodelja identified several priorities, including the creation of a modern public administration system that would efficiently serve the needs of the citizens and enable a competitive business environment.

Kodelja rejected allegations of incompetence that had emerged in several media outlets. He assured committee members that his teem would demonstrate sufficient knowledge and competency to improve the state of public administration.

MPs demanded detailed answers from the nominee, but Kodelja responded mostly in general terms. Committee Chair Zvonko Černač (SDS) suggested that Kodelja study areas where

his knowledge is deficient, so he could respond in detail once he becomes minister.

Kodelja was critical of his own performance. When arguing that not everyone in public administration excels at their job, he said: “We’re not all excellent. I’m certainly not excellent today.”