Parti populaire slovène
Between 1996 and 2000, the Christian Democrats remained in opposition, and Peterle's leadership was frequently challenged by different fractions within the party. He nevertheless managed to remain the chairman of the Party until 2000, when the Christian Democrats merged with the Slovenian People's Party, which had until then supported Janez Drnovšek's third term as Prime Minister. As a consequence, Drnovšek's government fell in 2000, and Peterle became foreign minister again in the short-lived centre-right government of Andrej Bajuk from June 2000 to November 2000.