Center-right Opposition Wins Slovenian Elections

The ousted Liberal Democrats have been leading the government for a long time and people need a change, explained outgoing Prime Minister Anton Rop. Victorious Slovenian Democrat (SDS) leader Janez Jansa, 46, said he would not change policies that have been working well. "We will not use voters' trust to change everything in Slovenia," said Jansa, according to Reuters. The polls before Sunday's elections suggested that the ruling coalition would retain power. With almost all of the votes counted, the SDS had polled 29.1 percent of the vote - six percentage points more than the Liberal Democrats. The SDS almost doubled its vote compared to the last election in 2000. The party is expected to start coalition talks today with three smaller right-wing parties, to secure a majority in the parliament. One of the issues the new prime minister has to address is the dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, which was sparked off last month when Slovenia withdrew its support for Croatia’s EU membership bid following a border incident. (EUobserver.com)