LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Slovenia slid into political crisis Saturday as Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek's government collapsed after failing to win approval for his new Cabinet.
Drnovsek was seeking parliament ratification for a Cabinet reshuffle after his junior coalition partner, the People's Party, pulled out of his government. The 90-seat legislature refused the proposal by a 55-to-31 vote -- a move that effectively ousted Drnovsek and left parliament with the task of finding a new prime minister within 30 days.The Liberal Democratic premier's fall means governmental business in this tiny alpine nation will be virtually stalled for the next month while a new leader is sought. If a successor isn't chosen by May 7, new elections will be called.
The old coalition, however, will remain in office with limited powers until a new government is elected.
Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic of 2 million wedged between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea, is a front-runner for accession into the European Union and NATO. During a visit to Slovenia last year, President Clinton toasted the country as an example of what a democratic Balkan region could become -- a model of success in building freedom and prosperity.
But Slovenia's constitution has no clear provisions for dealing with the withdrawal of a coalition partner, so the vote and its aftermath created political uncertainty. The outgoing Drnovsek, who has been premier since 1992, said that the current crisis was likely to stall the steady pace of Slovenia's much-desired integration into the European mainstream.
"This decision is a negative choice for the country," the 49-year-old said after the vote. "It halts the work of the government at a very delicate period."
He added that he would be seeking early elections since any other option would be a waste of time.
Grega Repovz, a political analyst with the daily Delo, said the situation is Slovenia's biggest political crisis since it won independence from the former Yugoslav federation in 1991. Slovenia's political parties rarely break out into open disagreement on matters of policy, and open infighting has seldom been seen until recent weeks.
The People's Party, which formed a government with the Liberal Party in February 1997, decided to pull out of the coalition last month to form a new coalition with the opposition Christian Democrats.
Marjan Podobnik, the president of the People's Party, said that he believed his party would enjoy better success in the upcoming elections in a right-leaning alliance with the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats. The Christian Democrats agreed to an alliance on the condition that Podobnik withdraw from the current coalition.
The People's Party holds 19 seats in parliament, while the Social Democrats have 16 seats and the Christian Democrats have nine. The potential alliance lacks two seats for a majority in the legislature.
Still, Podobnik believes that the conservative wing will manage to woo two more votes from the extreme leftist National Party, enabling it to nominate outgoing defense minister Franci Demsar as the next prime minister.