Exit poll suggests right-wing party leading Slovenia vote

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — A right-wing opposition party led by a former Slovenian prime minister won the most votes in Slovenia's parliamentary election on Sunday, but not enough to form a government on its own, an exit poll from Sunday's vote suggested.

The poll carried by public broadcaster TV Slovenia and commercial channel POP TV said that Janez Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party received 24.4 percent of the vote. The second-place party, the List of Marjan Sarec, trailed with 12.6 percent.

The Modern Center Party of outgoing Prime Minister Miro Cerar was third with 9.8 percent. The Left party had 9.5 percent and the Social Democrats won 9.3 percent, the poll conducted by the Mediana Institute said.

If confirmed in official returns, the results mean no party secured a majority in Slovenia's 90-member parliament and the likely next step is negotiations to form a coalition government.

Slovenia was once part of the former Yugoslavia and is the native home of U.S. first lady Melania Trump. Bordering Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and a slice of the Adriatic Sea, the country joined the European Union in 2004 and has used the euro as its official currency since 2007.

Jansa, who served as prime minister during 2004-2008 and 2012-2013, tweeted after the exit poll was published that "we do not fear tomorrow; we are looking forward to it."

"The trust of everyone who cast votes for us today makes us strong," Jansa added. "If SDS forms the government, we will lead it on a fair way, to the benefit of all citizens."

But postelection negotiations could keep Jansa from another term in office since other groups have suggested they were unwilling to form an alliance with him.

Second-placed Sarec reiterated Sunday that a coalition with Jansa was not an option and said he hoped his party would lead a future coalition government.

"If everybody respects our pre-election agreements, I expect that we will get the opportunity to form the government," he said.

Jansa is an ally of Hungary's anti-immigration prime minister, Viktor Orban. His election prowess with Slovenia's 1.7 million voters mirrors the growth of right-wing populism in central and eastern Europe following a large influx of migrants from the Mideast and Africa.

A government led by Jansa would shift Slovenia to the right and add an anti-immigrant voice to the European Union. Some 500,000 migrants passed through Slovenia, a country with a population of 2 million, during 2015.

Slovenia's outgoing PM Cerar has been credited with boosting the country's economy after a downturn. Sunday's election was being held a few weeks earlier than scheduled due to Cerar's sudden resignation in March over a failed railway project.

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Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.