Centre-left wins Slovenian election upset

Zoran Jankovic has celebrated an unexpected win in parliamentary elections, but for Slovenia’s centre-left leader there are plenty of economic and political challenges ahead.

Firstly, failure to win more than 29 per cent of the vote means he will have to seek several coalition partners. Secondly, Slovenia is slipping into a double dip recession and faces a credit downgrade.

Cash strapped voters were always likely to punish the out-going government but opinion polls had predicted a comfortable win for the centre-right’s Janez Jansa and his Slovenian Democratic Party. The upset had Jansa warning of a second election and soon.

“We are sure that this result is not the reason why Slovenia had early elections. The resulting fragmentation will make forming of a strong coalition and strong government very hard,” Jansa said.

Jansa will not be among those asked to form the new coalition, Jankovic has already ruled that out. His priority will be to find support for more public spending cuts.

More about: Election results, Eurozone in crisis, Parliamentary elections, Slovenia

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