Zoran Janković was not voted as the prime minister of the new Slovenian government

The Parliament of Slovenia today refused to give a vote of confidence to the former mayor of Ljubljana, the leftist Zoran Janković, as the new government's mandate, Reuters reported.

Janković, whose party Pozitivna Slovenija won a majority in early elections held on December 4, needed at least 46 votes from a total of 90 MPs, but managed to get the support of only 42 parliamentarians, while one MP voted against.

Virant's List, the Slovenian People's Party, New Slovenia and the Slovenian Democratic Party obstructed the voting by not picking up ballots.

The president and members of parliament now have 14 days to propose a new candidate, and it will most likely be Janez Janša, head of the centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party, the second strongest parliamentary party.

"Janša has better prospects than Janković to get support for the position of the new prime minister, but the division in the parliament is so great that it will be very difficult for the one who finds himself in the position of prime minister to rule," Meta Roglič, an analyst of the daily newspaper "Dnevnik", told Reuters.

Janša, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2008, promised to reduce the budget deficit, speed up privatization and selectively raise the retirement age.

The President of Slovenia, Danilo Tirk, said after the vote in the parliament that he was "sorry that Janković was not elected, because he was the only one who proved that he was a good candidate." The Turk also said that Janković enjoys his full trust and added that "a lot of political dribbling" was seen in the parliament, as well as that the deputies forgot that by entering the parliament in the elections, they "committed to the people, not to the parties".

"Zoran Janković is a good and serious candidate and today's events have not changed my assessment", said the president and stated that in his eyes, Janković "remains a serious candidate for prime minister".

The president did not want to answer who he could propose in 14 days.