Former prime minister wins Slovenia election

— Former Slovenia Prime Minister Borut Pahor, who has called for unity in the tiny European Union nation amid growing discontent with government budget cuts and other austerity measures, won the presidential election Sunday, according to preliminary official results.

Pahor won 67.44 percent of the vote compared with 32.56 for his rival, incumbent Danilo Turk, according to the State Electoral Commission, after nearly all votes were counted. Final results are expected later in the week.

“There is a way out and we must find it together,” Pahor said in his victory speech. “We must not turn against each other.”

Sunday’s vote came just days after anti-austerity protests in Ljubljana, the capital, turned into clashes that left 15 people injured, triggering fears this normally placid Alpine nation of 2 million was heading into instability.

Several hundred protesters waving banners gathered Sunday in the eastern town of Krsko, even as snow blanketed the country, disrupting trafficin some parts and contributing to a low election turnout.

Slovenia, once an economic star among EU newcomers when it joined in 2004, has faced one of the worst recessions of the 17-nation eurozone. Its economy has shrunk more than 8 percent since 2009 and continues to decline, resulting in a sharp drop in exports and living standards and a surge in unemployment, which now stands at about 12 percent.

Slovenia now needs “trust, respect and tolerance,” the 49-year-old left-leaning Pahor said. “There is no problem that cannot be solved if we act together.”

Turk congratulated his opponent and pledged to “remain an active citizen, loyal to the Slovenian state.”

Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s center-right government has launched pension and labor changes, made public-sector cuts and moved to recapitalize the nation’s banks, which are at the center of the financial crisis because they are burdened by bad loans. The cuts and changes are designed so Slovenia won’t have to ask for EU bailout help.

Information for this article was contributed by Ali Zerdin of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/03/2012

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