The anti-immigration party of veteran centre-right leader Janez Jansa is leading in Slovenia's parliamentary election, according to an exit poll published after voting ended on Sunday. The exit poll for public television gave 59-year-old Jansa's SDS party 24.4 percent, with the "anti-system" party of comedian-turned-politician Marjan Sarec coming second on 12.6 percent.
The SMC party of outgoing prime minister Miro Cerar was projected to get 9.8 percent, followed by the left-wing Levica party and the centre-left Social Democrats on 9.5 and 9.3, respectively. Jansa's combative personality, strident anti-immigration rhetoric and alliance with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban dominated the closing stages of the campaign.
Early elections were called after Cerar in March threw in the towel after months of public-sector strikes and internal wrangling within his coalition, with the last straw coming when a supreme court verdict on a flagship infrastructure project went against the government.
Some 1.7 million Slovenians were eligible to vote for 90 members of parliament. Turnout by late afternoon Sunday stood at 34.32 percent, slightly down on the same point in the last elections in 2014. First official results are expected around 2000 GMT. Even if the exit poll is borne out, Jansa may still find it difficult to put together a majority in parliament.
Sarec recently told AFP that "spreading fear (of migrants) and getting the prime minister of a neighbouring country (Orban) involved in our elections has crossed all red lines and I and our members do not see ourselves in such a constellation". The parties in the outgoing coalition - the Social Democrats, the SMC and the pensioners' party DESUS - have all also ruled out collaborating with the SDS. The centre-right Nova Slovenija is the only other party which has said it would work with Jansa and it was on 6.6 percent according to the exit poll, published after 7:00 pm (17:00 GMT).
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