Slovenia to get new PM, early returns show

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Early returns indicate Slovenia's opposition parties have defeated conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa in parliamentary elections.

While Social Democrat leader Borut Pahor and his political allies haven't claimed victory in Sunday's election, a coalition of Social Democrats, Liberal Democrats and the Zares party is likely, Euronews.net reported Monday.

With about 99 percent of votes counted, the Social Democrats held 29 seats in the 90-seat parliament, as opposed to 28 for the Jansa's Conservative Slovene Democratic Party.

"This is not only a very good result, this is a real success," Pahor said. "To all those who didn't vote for us and to those who did, we will govern for the future of Slovenia, taking everyone's interests into account."

Jansa's coalition partner, the New Slovenia of Andrej Bajuk, failed to cross the election threshold, so Pahor likely to be named prime minister-designate, reported EMportal-Serbia.

"The result is tight ... but we can speak about a probability that the three center-left parties will form the next government," Jansa said.

Official results are expected by Oct. 1, election officials said.