LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – Slovenia’s five centre-left parties nominated Marjan Sarec, a comedian turned politician, to become prime minister and form a government following an inconclusive June 3 general election.

The nomination is expected to end Slovenia’s longest political stalemate since an election.

The anti-immigrant Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) of former Prime Minister Janez Jansa, the strongest single party in the parliament with 25 seats, could not find a coalition partner to form the government.

Under Slovenian law, lawmakers may nominate candidates for prime minister if the president fails to name a candidate because no party holds a majority in parliament.

The parliament is due to vote on Sarec’s nomination on Aug. 17. He would need support of an absolute majority — at least 46 out of 90 parliamentary members — to be elected.

Sarec is a former actor and comedian whose second term as mayor of Kamnik in northern Slovenia expired this year.

His LMS party has agreed a minority coalition with the Social Democrats, the Party of Modern Centre, the Party of ex-Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek SAB and pensioners’ party Desus.

The coalition also expects to get the backing of the Left party, though it earlier said it would not participate in the government.

The five parties together hold 43 seats, and with the Left’s nine seats they expect to secure a slim majority in the parliament. If confirmed, Sarec will have 15 days to nominate his cabinet.

One of the first tasks of the new government would be to start the sale of Slovenia’s largest bank, state-owned Nova Ljubljanska Banka. Slovenia has committed to sell a 75 percent stake in NLB in exchange for European Commission approval of state aid to the bank in 2013.

(Reporting by Maja Zuvela in Sarajevo, editing by Larry King)</s>MPs from five parties will nominate Šarec for Prime Minister

MPs from five parties, LMŠ, SD, SMC, SAB, and DeSUS, are nominating Marjan Šarec to become Slovenia's next Prime Minister. The parties want cooperation from the Left, with which the minority government would need to cooperate. The Left is in the final stages of a referendum about its possible cooperation with Šarec's government.

The five parties have been in talks with the Left about cooperation, but the blueprint for that cooperation has not yet been finalized. The Left wants firm assurances that the five parties - if they receive support from the Left - will not change the partner and the cooperation agreements. The National Assembly will vote on Šarec's candidacy on Friday, August 17.

After Tuesday's coordinating talks, LMŠ issued a statement that an important step has been made, but the Left remains more skeptical. They are worried that after they give their votes to Šarec, the other parties could remove welfare measures, which had been introduced by the Left, from the coalition agreement. Meanwhile, some of the five parties are cautioning that the measures were introduced under the assumption that the Left would join the government.</s>LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — A former comedian whose party finished second in Slovenia's parliamentary election was proposed on Wednesday as prime minister-designate, more than two months after the inconclusive vote.

The candidacy of 40-year-old Marjan Sarec was formally put forward by five moderate parties — including his own Marjan Sarec list — in a bid to break a political deadlock after weeks of negotiations.

The five groups have garnered support from 43 lawmakers in the 90-member assembly. They hope to win backing from a separate leftist party to form a minority government.

The center-left parties have allied to sideline the top party in the June 3 vote, the anti-immigrant right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party led by former prime minister Janez Jansa. Jansa, an ally of Hungary's anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has failed to win support from other parliamentary groups for a right-leaning coalition in traditionally moderate Slovenia.

Slovenia's parliament is expected next week to vote on Sarec's bid. If elected, he would become the youngest-ever prime minister in Slovenia, the official STA news agency said.

Sarec is a relative newcomer in top-level politics in Slovenia. He has served as the mayor of the central town of Kamnik and also ran in the presidential election last year, surprisingly forcing a close race in the runoff with incumbent veteran Borut Pahor.

Analysts, however, have predicted that Sarec's minority government likely would be unstable.</s>Opposition to nominate NCP MP Vandana Chauhan as deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha

Opposition may nominate NCP MP Vandana Chauhan as deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha. Watch the video to know more.</s>LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — A former comedian whose party finished second in Slovenia’s parliamentary election has been proposed to become the new prime minister-designate more than two months after the inconclusive vote.

The candidacy of 40-year-old Marjan Sarec was formally put forward Wednesday by five moderate parties, including his own Marjan Sarec list.

The five groups have garnered support from 43 lawmakers in the 90-member assembly. They hope to win backing from a separate leftist group to form a minority government.

The center-left parties have allied to sideline the relative winner of the June 3 vote, the anti-immigrant right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party led by former prime minister Janez Jansa.

Slovenia’s parliament is expected next week to vote on Sarec’s bid to become the premier-designate. Analysts say a minority government would be unstable.</s>Baku. 16 March.REPORT.AZ/ 'Progress is observed in submission of annual financial statements by political parties'.

Report informs, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Natig Mammadli said Wednesday.

He said that 14 political parties have submitted their financial statements up to now: 'Deadline is April 1. I believe that all political parties will present their financial statements. Activity of Azerbaijan's political parties should be transparent and right. They should inform the public on their activities. Relations between political parties and the Central Election Commission are not only related with elections, we also receive financial statements of the parties. Measures will be carried out on the parties failing to submit their statements. Relevant legislative framework is also available'.
Five center-left political parties nominate Marjan Šarec to become Prime Minister of Slovenia.