March 15 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's president, Borut Pahor, said on Thursday the country is likely to hold early parliamentary elections in the second half of May after the prime minister, Miro Cerar, resigned.
Pahor said in a statement that he will not propose a new PM to the parliament as he thinks it is more appropriate to call a snap vote instead.
After Cerar handed in his resignation to parliament on Thursday, the parliament now has seven days to vote on it. If the resignation is accepted, a prime minister designate is to be elected within 30 days. If not, parliament will be dissolved.
Pahor said on Thursday, following a meeting with Cerar, that he will discuss his decision for an early election with parliament groups, including groups of at least 10 MPs which also have the right to nominate candidates for a new PM.
Cerar announced late on Wednesday he is stepping down after Slovenia's Supreme Court annulled a referendum on the Koper-Divaca railway project, the government said.
"Cerar promised he would see to it that the government takes care of the day-to-day business and pressing matters and to preserve peace and stability in Slovenia until a new government is elected," the government said in a short statement.
Slovenia was set to hold general elections in June.
In September, 53% of Slovenians voted in a referendum to support the construction of a second track of the Divaca–Koper railway.
"After two decades and efforts by previous governments, the construction of the second track has now finally and definitely shifted from a dead end," Cerar said at the time.
The call for a referendum was launched by locals who demanded relocation of the existing track and construction of a new two-track line.
The existing Divaca - Koper line does not meet the standards for the core network which were adopted by the Council of the EU in 2012 and are expected to be implemented by 2030.
On Wednesday, however, the Supreme Court of Slovenia, said the outcome of the referendum should be annulled as government campaigning for the project could have affected the final results.