MARJAN Sarec, who announced his resignation as prime minister of Slovenia, has been backed in his call for a new general election after the collapse of his government.
A public opinion survey conducted by pollster Ninamedia for the newspaper Dnevnik suggests that more than 60% of Slovenians want a new election after Sarec’s shock decision to quit.
His arguments in favour of what would be a fourth snap election in three years appear to have convinced the majority of respondents.
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The five parties in the ruling coalition fell out over several issues, but the matter which brought things to a head was the resignation of finance minister Andrej Bertoncelj.
He stood down at the weekend in protest at new legislation proposed by Sarec’s party under which the budget would cover losses of the national health system.
Slovenian president Borut Pahor is now set to start talks with other parliamentary parties to see if any of them can form a new coalition with a majority.
However, Sarec, a former comedian, said: “With this coalition, this situation in parliament, I cannot fulfil the expectations of the people. I would be able to fulfil them after an election.”
Slovenia, which has a population of just over two million people, has a single-chamber parliament with 90 seats, 88 of which are elected by proportional representation from 11 eight-seat constituencies.
The other two seats are reserved for the Italian and Hungarian minorities in the country.
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