Biography

Peterle is currently the chairperson of the Slovene parliamentary commission for European affairs and an MP of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi). The candidates' member in the presidency will have the status of a guest, as the post had not initially been envisaged. Peterle, born in 1948, became prime minister after the first multi-party elections in Slovenia in April 1990, and held the post of foreign minister in the Janez Drnovsek government from 1992 to 1994. Moreover, in June 2000 he became foreign minister in the Andrej Bajuk government, and was re-elected to parliament in the October 2000 general elections. Peterle, who is a graduate of geography and history, was also president of the Slovene Christian Democrats (SKD), a conservative party which merged with the former People's Party (SLS) into the SLS+SKD Slovene People's Party in April 2000. He was one of the founding members of the opposition NSi, which was established in August 2000 after a split in the SLS+SKD Slovene People's Party. The NSi - led by President Andrej Bajuk - has eight seats in the 90-seat Slovene parliament.