Slovenian Prime Minister Expected To Lose Power In Elections

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor

Voting has started in Slovenia's parliamentary elections, a race in which opinion surveys suggest the center-left Prime Minister Borut Pahor will become the latest eurozone leader to lose power because of Europe's debt crisis.

The opinion polls predict a heavy election defeat for Pahor's Social Democrats, who are expected to drop from the leading party to third place.

Promising structural reforms and spending cuts, former Prime Minister Janez Jansa's center-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) is expected to lead today's election.

Positive Slovenia, a new center-left party founded by Ljubljana's popular millionaire Mayor Zoran Jankovic, is expected to finish a close second.

The debt crisis in the 17-nation eurozone already has led to a change in governments in Portugal, Greece, Italy, and Spain.

compiled from agency reports