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Anti-immigrant party tops Slovenian elections but coalition in doubt

The anti-immigrant Slovenia Democratic Party won the country's parliamentary elections June 3 but may struggle to form a government due to a lack of possible coalition partners, media reports said.

The Slovenia Democratic Party, or SDS, came in first place, garnering 25% of the votes and securing 25 seats in the 90-seat parliament, with 99% of the votes counted, Reuters reported. The center-left party, The List of Marjan Šarec, or LMS, took second place with 12.6% of the votes and 13 seats.

"We will probably have to wait for some time ... before serious talks on a new government will be possible," Reuters quoted SDS leader and former Prime Minister Janez Janša as saying after he cast his vote. President Borut Pahor will give SDS the first chance to form a government as it topped the elections, but it would need to partner with at least two other parties to gain a majority, the newswire said.

Janša, who was prime minister from 2004 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013, has pledged to slash taxes and accelerate privatization. SDS is also opposed to EU plans for countries to accept asylum seekers based on quotas, arguing that funds would be better allocated to security forces, Reuters said.

LMS leader Marjan Šarec said after the vote that he expects a chance to form a government as most parties had indicated before the election that they were unlikely to join an SDS coalition. "If everyone sticks to what they said before the election, we expect to get a chance to form a government," Šarec was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Only the center-right Nova Slovenija party, which received 7.1% of the votes and has seven seats, has said it will work with SDS, BBC News said.

The next government's top priorities will include the privatization of Slovenia's largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska banka dd; reforming the country's health sector and pension system; and confirming the next central bank governor, who will also sit on the European Central Bank's Governing Council, Reuters said.