Slovenia’s Miro Cerar wins snap polls

Early official results in Slovenia’s national elections have consolidated victory for the center-left SMC party’s candidate and a political newcomer Miro Cerar.

The well-known law professor, whose Slovenia Miro Cerar (SMC) party was established in June under his own name, garnered almost 37 percent of the vote, with 95 percent of votes counted, according to the results on Sunday. With these results, the SMC would secure 36 seats in the 90-seat parliament.

The opposition centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by ex-premier Janez Jansa won 21 percent of the votes cast.

As early results were announced, 50-year-old Cerar called on his supporters to remain cautious until after the winner is officially announced.

“These results are good. Let’s wait for the official ones,” he said, adding that victory would represent “a very big responsibility that will require big efforts from us.”

Rejecting any deal with the SDS, Cerar said coalition talks would start on Monday.

“We do not see any possibility of a coalition since it is a party that has been acting against some state institutions,” he said.

The center-left politician has pledged to rewrite a package of reforms to fix the eurozone member’s poor finances.

He will lead Slovenia’s fourth government since the eurozone’s 2008 financial crisis.

Snap elections in the country were agreed after outgoing Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek lost the support of her centre-left Positive Slovenia (PS) party and resigned in May.