From political defeat to the Slovenian presidency: Borut Pahor’s spectacular comeback through the mastery of communication

Borut Pahor became prime minister of Slovenia in 2008, and on September 20th 2011, his government, weighed down by the global financial crisis and controversial reforms, lost a confidence vote in parliament. In the snap election that followed his Social Democrats, which had won 29 seats in 2008, were reduced to just ten. Then, in June 2012, he lost the leadership of the party he had headed for nearly fifteen years to Igor Lukšič by a margin of only ten votes.

One could ask if he was ready to give it all a rest.

But Pahor did not rest. What is more, at the very congress where he lost the party leadership, he announced his next goal: the presidency of Slovenia. He did not stop at just announcing his intentions to become the president. Just a few months later, in December 2012, he was elected president with 67.37 per cent of the vote. Five years later, he ran for the same office again and won once more. In this way, he turned one of the heaviest defeats of his political career into the beginning of a ten-year presidency that would stretch from 2012 to 2022.

The main reason I wanted to interview Pahor was precisely to learn what kind of struggle, determination and motivation lay behind this extraordinary turnaround in his career.

He describes the situation he found himself in at the time in these words:

“At that point, I was also unpopular. Yet, deep down, I was aware that I was capable of more and that, as president of the republic, I could live up to my own expectations as well as those of the people. I believed strongly in myself, and, as it turned out a year later, the people believed in me too.”

Still, the fact that a politician who, only a few months earlier, had not even been able to remain at the head of his own party went on shortly afterwards to win the votes of more than two-thirds of the electorate inevitably brings the same question to mind:

What had changed?

The answer did not lie in a big-budget advertising campaign. Pahor had turned down offers from professional agencies and chosen an unconventional path with a small, young team around him. During his premiership, he had not been a politician who failed to communicate with the public. On the contrary, he had been criticized for trying too hard to explain to the people the difficult decisions he took during the crisis. Today, he himself admits that there was some truth in those criticisms. What he came to realize afterwards, Pahor sums up in his own words:

“When politicians meet them, people want to feel that they are not simply there to talk to them, but to listen to them.”

This very idea became the starting point of the 2012 campaign. He chose to close the distance between himself and the voters not from the rally podium, but by stepping into their everyday lives. He worked in factories, on farms and in workshops; he collected rubbish, laid asphalt and shovelled salt. Over the course of the campaign, he worked in no fewer than 44 different jobs. Moreover, he did not leave the scene after putting on a worker’s overalls and having a few photographs taken. Instead, he worked full shifts alongside the employees. For him, this was not an electoral show:

“If I had worked for only an hour or two, the campaign would have been perceived as a show. But because I worked full shifts, it was understood as a genuine effort. That was the whole point of the campaign: to show that I was willing to make an effort.”

One of the stories that best illustrates what these words meant on the ground took place in Murska Sobota. When Pahor began collecting rubbish with a worker from the municipal services, the man was at first rather distant towards him. However, once he realized that Pahor really would stay on the job until the end of the day, even after the journalists had come and taken their footage, he began showing him how to throw the heavy rubbish bags into the truck more easily and quickly. And so, in the end, they became friends. Pahor says that he is still in touch today with some of the people he worked alongside during that campaign.

As its impact grew, this unusual campaign became a news story in its own right. Pahor recalls hearing a journalist on national radio ask, one morning as he was on his way to work, “Where will Pahor be working today?” He sums up the situation at that point with this rather immodest sentence:

“Suddenly, the entire campaign of all the presidential candidates became focused on the work I was doing. My competitors simply did not stand a chance.”

When floods hit Slovenia in the autumn of 2012, Pahor also went, together with some 30 people, to help residents near Ptuj whose homes had been flooded. The image he presented, covered in mud with a shovel in hand, clearly showed that he had no concern for preserving the image of a flawless, aloof statesman. “You know me at my best and at my worst. You decide whether I am worthy of your trust” became his message to the country.

Of course, it would be unfair to Pahor to attribute his success in 2012 solely to the colourful campaign images of him working hands-on in 44 jobs. As he himself particularly emphasizes: “What ultimately made the difference was my conduct.” He believes that his stance in favour of national reconciliation played an important role in winning the support of voters from different political persuasions. He thinks that his efforts to ensure that the victims of fascism and communism were remembered with respect increased the trust placed in him across different segments of society. He sought to position himself as the president not only of his own political base, but of the whole country.

When he ran for the presidency again five years later, however, Pahor was aware that he could not create the same effect by repeating the unconventional method of his first campaign… This time, the solution came from his son Luka, a university student:

“Dad, do you remember when you first ran for parliament and went door to door in your constituency?”

Of course, Pahor remembered. Luka’s suggestion was simple but effective: back then he had toured his constituency; this time he would walk the whole country. And so, together with his son and a small team, Pahor covered no less than 979 kilometres across Slovenia. Social media played an important role in this campaign. People found out online where Pahor would be and at what time, and, if they wished, met him along the way. It was precisely here that what sets Pahor’s digital communication apart from so many of the examples we see today became apparent. In his hands, social media served not as a stage that replaces human contact, but as a tool that leads people to a real encounter…

Indeed, Pahor describes one of the fundamental mistakes politicians make today in these words:

“They mistakenly believe that a post on social media can replace a handshake and personal contact. It cannot.”

He recalls that when he appeared in his first television debate at the end of those 979 kilometres, he struggled to stay on his feet for two hours. But his assessment of the campaign is unhesitating: “The campaign was worth every single step.” Pahor was elected president once again in 2017.

Pahor makes no secret of his ambitions when it comes to social media. Saying “Perhaps I will be a little immodest,” he counts Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and himself among the pioneers of social media in political communication. He also gladly points out that in 2017 the international press referred to him as the “King of Instagram”.

The former president, who says he now has more than 350,000 followers across various platforms, also explains what he pays attention to when using social media:

“I have never posted a single offensive or toxic message. Kindness, self-irony and the ability to laugh at yourself can also be very appealing – provided you are consistent.”

It is precisely here that both the most interesting and the most controversial side of Pahor’s political communication comes to light. Never hesitant to bring his personality into politics, Pahor did not hold back from showing his humour, his everyday life, his flaws and, at times, his flamboyant side… Yet the former president is also aware that social media is increasingly personalizing politics and turning it into a show: “I have always tested where the boundaries are, and I have crossed them from time to time – and made mistakes along the way.” I value this self-criticism, because he does not come before us with a verdict such as “I was sincere, the others are putting on a show.” The distinction he then draws is perhaps the best summary of this entire debate:

“Not every form of political spectacle is populism, and not everything that is popular is necessarily populist.”

In other words, Pahor does not shy away from the show. However, he also knows that the show alone is not enough…

When his second term also came to an end in 2022, Pahor’s life did not settle into the usual “former president” mould. When I ask him which title he considers fitting for himself today, he replies: “I have now fully stepped away from political life. I am an entrepreneur.” He provides international consultancy, speaks at events in different parts of the world, teaches at a university, and runs his own institute and “Friends of the Western Balkans” initiative. He is also a content creator. He has even opened up his social media visibility to commercial collaborations.

It may sound unusual for someone who once represented the highest office in his country to be thinking today about the commercial future of his own personal brand. Pahor is well aware of this too:

“The decision to monetize my social media was not an easy one, nor was it made overnight. I could easily have fallen flat on my face. It was not simply about making money. It was about proving to myself that I could build something in a field I genuinely love – communication. Could I turn that passion into something commercially viable?”

He says that, with his young team made up mostly of students, he would like to do more projects, particularly in fashion. He sums up his goal in this sentence:

“The goal is always to be original and do things differently.”

When you think about it, this approach is also very much in line with the starting point of the campaigns that won him two presidential terms. It seems that although the tools have changed, the desire to “be different” has not.

Nor does Pahor allow himself unlimited latitude in his commercial collaborations. He says that he feels a responsibility towards his young followers and has therefore refused to work with alcohol and gambling brands, despite the tempting offers he has received.

After all these campaigns, social media strategies and debates about personal branding, I asked Pahor for the most important piece of communication advice he would give to someone entering politics.

He regards the growing tendency to engage with people only at election time as a serious mistake:

“This is not just a mistake from a communication point of view. It is a moral and human mistake, because when you treat people this way, you reduce them to nothing more than voters.”

The title of his book, published in 2023, complements this idea: Victory Is Only the Beginning.

Pointing out that he has won nine elections in a row, the former president likens an election victory to a credit relationship:

“When you win – and I have won nine consecutive elections – you receive a kind of credit from the people. You have an obligation to pay that credit back. That is when the real work begins. Otherwise, you remain in their debt.”

This was exactly the point at which the interview moved beyond political communication and arrived directly at his understanding of politics. Persuading the voter is one thing; continuing to honour your responsibility towards them after winning the election is quite another – that was the message Pahor was conveying.

When I asked Pahor how he would like to be remembered when he looks back on his entire political career, his answer was clear:

“The vast majority of people in Slovenia would probably tell you right away that the answer is reconciliation. I would agree with them, although there was much more to it than that.”

Pahor, who says he has never considered it enough to reach only those who voted for him, finds it dangerous that politics today is increasingly splitting into camps that speak only to their own supporters. In his view, this approach deepens political divisions, makes societies more fragile and narrows the common ground.

He is troubled that reconciliation is increasingly seen as a sign not of strength but of weakness… In fact, Pahor’s working in 44 different jobs and his politics of national reconciliation meet at the same common point: being able to step outside your own circle.

At the end of the interview, I naturally brought the conversation round to Türkiye as well. The relationship between Pahor and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan goes back to the period when they were the prime ministers of their two countries. In 2011, they signed the strategic partnership agreement between Türkiye and Slovenia together. Pahor says their friendship continued after both of them became presidents. One scene from the visit he made to Türkiye after the 2016 coup attempt has stayed particularly vivid in Pahor’s memory.

As Pahor tells it, while he was meeting with Erdoğan, one of the Turkish president’s advisers came into the room to let him know that a very influential world leader was waiting on the phone to speak with him. Erdoğan, visibly annoyed that his conversation had been interrupted, turned to his adviser and asked that the person call back later. Erdoğan explained his reason with this sentence: “Because I’m talking to a friend right now.” He then turned to Pahor with a mischievous smile…

The fact that Pahor still remembers this moment after so many years is, in fact, consistent with the understanding of communication he describes throughout the interview. People do not easily forget that someone has truly made time for them. Whether it is a president, or a municipal worker working alongside you on a rubbish truck…

The lesson to be drawn from Pahor’s story is, of course, not that every politician should put on worker’s overalls, walk across the country, or make fun of themselves on social media. In another politician, any of these could just as easily turn into an artificial show.

To me, the real point of his story is that the Murska Sobota worker’s view of Pahor had changed not when the cameras arrived, but when he saw that, even after the cameras had left, the former prime minister would stay there and finish the shift.

Perhaps the fundamental question that needs to be asked in politics is: are you still there after the photo has been taken?

I also see the fact that the former president, who spoke throughout the interview about the importance of personal contact and making time for people, took time, despite his busy schedule, to answer the questions of a young journalist from Türkiye, and answered them in detail rather than brushing them off, as one of the concrete expressions of the understanding of communication he described.

For this interview, I consider it a duty to extend my sincere thanks to Borut Pahor, who, unlike the distant politician striving to appear flawless that we are accustomed to, won my strong sympathy and left a lasting impression on me with his colourful personality, his natural demeanour and the ease with which he grants himself the right to make mistakes. I must also thank his team, who showed an extremely constructive and meticulous spirit of cooperation from the very beginning of the process to the end.

Tunacan Tuna is an Istanbul-based cultural journalist and researcher focusing on Balkan and Ottoman cultural heritage. His previous essay for New Eastern Europe, “Everything could be shared, except the name of God”, appeared in July 2026.