Slovenian PM set to lose power in election

Slovenia's centre-left Prime Minister Borut Pahor was expected Sunday to become the latest eurozone leader to lose power over the debt crisis, with opinion polls predicting a heavy election defeat. Promising structural reforms and spending cuts, former premier Janez Jansa of the centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) is tipped to succeed him, although the last survey ahead of the vote showed his lead narrowing. The poll conducted by Ninamedia gave the SDS 28.5 percent of the vote, with Positive Slovenia, a new centre-left party founded by Ljubljana's popular millionaire mayor Zoran Jankovic, on 24.6 percent. Pahor's Social Democrats were seen crashing to third place with only 14.3 percent support. The debt crisis in the 17-nation eurozone has already led to a change in government in a string of countries including Portugal, Greece, Italy and most recently in Spain. Although still in a far better state than many euro members, since joining in 2007 Slovenia's national debt as a proportion of output has roughly doubled to 45.5 percent, according to the European Commission. The three main credit agencies have cut their ratings on Slovenian debt in recent months, and last month interest rates hit seven percent -- a level that forced other countries to seek outside support. Pahor's government lost a confidence vote in September after major reforms to the creaking pension system were rejected in a referendum, prompting early elections after just two years in office. "In the first 100 days we will take the necessary measures to cut the spiral of pessimism, the lack of ambition and the drought of financial resources," the SDS manifesto promises. If he wins enough votes Jansa will have a free hand to "act very quickly," Corinne Deloy from the Centre for International Studies and Research (CERI) in Paris told AFP. But she added: "His grace period will be very short." Jansa, 53, is set to assume power under dramatically different circumstances from his first term in 2004-8 when Slovenia enjoyed stellar growth, unemployment under seven percent and solid public finances. The global financial crisis savaged the export-oriented economy -- output slumped by 8.1 percent in 2009 -- and the government has been paying for it ever since. Growth figures published Wednesday showed Slovenia perilously close to recession, with output shrinking 0.2 percent in the third quarter after stagnating in the second and contracting 0.1 percent in the first. Unemployment hit 11.5 percent in September, and the central bank has warned it may have to cut its growth forecast for 2012 again soon from the current projection of 1.3 percent. The outgoing government forecast a budget deficit of 5.5 percent of output this year. Some 1.7 million people are eligible to vote. Polling stations will be open from 0600 to 1800 GMT, with exit polls expected soon after they close, followed later with the first partial official results. Voter turnout was forecast to be as high as 70 percent.