Against a backdrop of growing calls and protests for him to quit, Slovenian Premier Janez Jansa said Thursday, January 23 he intends to remain in office to balance the public budget and keep Slovenia from the economic brink in spite of having lost his majority rule following the defection Wednesday of one of his coalition parties, newswires report.

"Early elections would push Slovenia into a limbo for several months, during which the country would go bankrupt," Jansa told a press conference. "Besides, the current electoral system would not bring about change, nor would it guarantee stability."

Civic List (DL) followed through on a threat to leave the government because Jansa refused to resign or face a confidence vote following a report by the state anti-corruption commission that said that he could not explain the origin of assets worth EUR210,000. DL leader Gregor Virant resigned as parliament speaker and two DL ministers from Jansa's cabinet tended their resignations. Crucially, Jansa lost his finance minister, Civic List member Janez Sustersic, a blow when the government is trying to push through austerity measures to avoid becoming the next Eurozone country to require a bailout. The economy has been back in recession since 2011 and the country's mostly state banks are crumbling under bad loans worth about 19% of annual GDP.

The embattled premier, who now has just 41 out of 90 votes in parliament, said elections must be postponed until after his government's anti-crisis packet is debated in February, or else Slovenia will have to ask the EU for a bailout.

But many expect snap elections, the second in little more than a year. "The minority government can continue for a while, but it seems that sooner or later an early election will be held," said Borut Hocevar, an analyst at the Slovenian daily Finance. "This crisis is certainly pushing Slovenia towards a bailout."

Source: bne