LJUBLJANA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Marjan Sarec, a 40-year-old former comedian and mayor whose party came second in the June 3 election, was formally nominated as prime minister designate by his and four other centrist parties on Wednesday.
Sarec's bid was endorsed by 43 Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Marjan Sarec List (LMS), Social Democrats (SD), Modern Centre Party (SMC), Party of Alenka Bratusek (SAB) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), according to the Slovenian Press Agency STA.
The five parties, which have been in talks to form a minority government, expect that Sarec will also be backed by the nine MPs of the Left, which will mean Sarec will have a sufficient majority to be elected PM-designate in parliament next week.
The deadline for the submission of bids for PM-designate in the second round of the nomination process expires Friday. However, it seems no other bid is expected.
According to the current law, the candidate needs to garner at least 46 votes in the 90-strong National Assembly to be appointed. A vote is expected to be held on Aug. 17.
If endorsed, Sarec will become Slovenia's youngest prime minister. A newcomer to national politics, Sarec served two terms as mayor of Kamnik near the capital city of Ljubljana before being elected MP on June 3.
His party won 13 seats in parliament during the election, after Sarec nearly defeated the incumbent Borut Pahor in the run-off of the 2017 presidential election, with 46.9 of the vote.
If the formation of a minority government fails, Slovenia is likely to head for a snap election, an option advocated by the June election winner Janez Jansa, whose Democrats (SDS) have been unable to form a government after being outright rejected by the majority of other parties due to their radical stance, in particular on migration and human rights, according to STA report.
