In the past days the social networks and media have been full of promises made by political parties. They all say that under their rule life in Slovenia would be better. However a quick glance at the parties' programs shows that the same promises can be found in their election programs from 2011.

A more powerful tool for winning over voters, rather than party election programs, are TV debates. The actions and words spoken by party leaders at election debates. However it can't be overlooked that the opposition SDS Democrats have used the most recent TV debates, not to present their party programs and measures, but to voice their support for their imprisoned president Janez Janša.

Political analyst Matej Makarovič judges that the SDS has every right to warn of injustices, however avoiding debating their programs isn't necessarily the wisest action.

"When a party stops leading a normal election campaign because its president is behind bars, in a way it is surely a bad choice. It creates a false impression that the party is unable to function without its president," warns Makarovič.

Janja Božič Marolt from the Mediana agency stresses that SDS's actions so far, connected to supporting Janša, haven't harmed the party rating, and that a lot will depend on how the campaign continues.

"Other party leaders could harm the SDS if they adopted a more effective stance, however not substantially. The SDS would only lose a few percentage points," says Božič Marolt.

Political analyst Makarovič adds that if the campaign only comes down to the opposition leader being in jail, then all other issues would be neglected – issues that could be quite important for Slovenia in a time of financial and economic difficulties.

Nataša Mulec, Radio Slovenija; translated by K. J.