Slovenia elects new president

AFP/LjubljanaSlovenians voted in a presidential run-off yesterday with opinion polls favouring former premier Borut Pahor, despite his support for government austerity plans that have brought thousands of protesters on to the streets in the recession hit eurozone state.Pahor, 49, pulled off an upset in the first round on November 11 when he won almost 40% of the vote ahead of the then favoured incumbent President Danilo Turk, 60, with almost 36%.Yesterday he was expected to win with 60% ahead of 40% for Turk, according to latest opinion polls published on Friday.Pahor is backed by the centre-left opposition Social Democrats, while Turk is running as an independent with the backing of the largest centre-left opposition party, Positive Slovenija.Turnout was just over 12% at 1000 GMT.