Independent parties make biggest gains in Slovenian local elections

Oct 11, 2010, 11:54 GMT

Ljubljana - Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor's Social Democratic party and its coalition allies fared poorly in Sunday's local elections, results on Monday showed.

The social democrats captured just around 12 per cent of the municipal seats in Slovenia, according to preliminary results. In 2008 parliamentary elections the party won 30 per cent of the votes.

Pahor attributed the result to unpopular austerity measures his cabinet implemented to deal with the effects of the economic downturn.

The conservative opposition leader, former premier Janez Jansa declared a 'clear victory' for his Democratic party, which collected 19 per cent of the votes nationwide.

However it was independent runners who gained the most ground since the last poll.

With Pahor facing protests over plans to freeze wages and Jansa under corruption allegations, independent candidates won 21 per cent of all votes and one-quarter of all mayoral posts, including that in the capital.

The Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic won 66 per cent of the votes and another four years in the office.

The turnout was low, under 50 per cent and at just 33 per cent in Ljubljana.