Surprise victory in Slovenia's presidential election
(Vatican Radio) Slovenia's president has unexpectedly lost Sunday's first round of
presidential elections. Official results showed President Danilo Turk received roughly
36 per cent of the vote, behind former prime minister Borut Pahor with about 40 per
cent.
Though opinion polls predicted his victory, Turk, an independent,
slipped to second place in the presidential race, which was held amid concerns about
the economy. He will face the 49-year-old former prime minister Pahor in a run-off
vote on December 2.
Pahor was visibly surprised that he won the first round,
as his centre-left government collapsed in late 2011.
"The message from
this vote is: 'all together we can achieve more than we can imagine'," he said. He
pledged to "work hard to exceed voters expectations."
Turk, 60, told reporters
he remains confident that Slovenians will trust him to continue as of head of state
in these turbulent times.
"In the following three weeks I'll do
everything possible to show the conceptual differences between me and my rival," said
the elderly statesman: "This was only the first round."
President Turk
also said that the low voter turnout of just around 47 per cent – compared to nearly
58 percent in 2007 – was "a warning that people are disappointed in politics and the
state".
Turk added that Slovenia "is the only state in Europe where a prime
minister has faced criminal proceedings over alleged bribery."
He referred
to centre-right government leader Janez Janša, who was tried on corruption charges
in Slovenia's planned 278 million euro purchase of armoured vehicles from Finnish
arms maker Patria.
The deal has since been cancel led, but Janša maintains
his innocence.
Whoever wins will oversee a nation that was one seen as a successful
newcomer to the eurozone, but now battles to needing international financial assistance.
The
government has pledged tough austerity measures and wants to heal the troubled banking
system of the small EU nation of two million people.
Though the president
has a largely ceremonial post, he is seen as crucial for the political stability in
Slovenia, which broke away from what was Yugoslavia in 1991.
Listen
to the full report by regional correspondent Stefan Bos: