(Bloomberg) -- Marjan Sarec, an ex-comedian who shot to popularity last year, said he wouldn't join forces with ex-Prime Minister Janez Jansa, the only candidate he trails in polls before elections next month.
Sarec, speaking in an interview in Ljubljana on Thursday, said he “strongly believes” he can form a government without Jansa, who may win elections but has little chance to form a majority coalition, according to current statements from other party leaders.
Slovenia is heading to the polls on June 3 after Prime Minister Miro Cerar stepped down in March following a series of public-sector strikes and a setback with the nation's biggest infrastructure project. The election campaign has been dominated by Jansa's Slovenian Democratic Party anti-immigrant rhetoric. That has prompted Sarec, the Social Democrats and other parties, to vow to shun Jansa in future coalition talks.
“We strongly believe that we can form a government, a center-leaning coalition that will focus on development and our country's future,” Sarec said as he toured the capital city flanked by a small group of supporters.
While Slovenia's laws don't specify who should receive a government-forming mandate after the election from President Borut Pahor, past experience suggests the first try goes to the winner of the ballot, even if the party fails to win a majority.
To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Cerni in Ljubljana at bcerni@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley
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