Slovenian PM to Ask for Confidence Vote

Slovenian center-left Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek said Friday she will seek a vote of confidence in her coalition government with the outcome largely linked to talks over unpopular austerity measures.

"After all we've done, I believe it is right to check whether I still have the confidence of at least 46 MPs (in the 90-seat parliament) for leading the country into a better future," Bratusek told a news conference.

She added, the vote should address the readiness of the four-party coalition "to work together for the benefit of Slovenia and its citizens".

The coalition will on Sunday discuss measures aimed at securing additional budget revenues to bridge the gap opened after the country's constitutional court last week scrapped a new real estate tax, a bill seen as crucial for increasing revenues and stabilizing public finances.

So far, junior coalition party Civil List (DL) has rejected a fresh two-percent increase in Value Added Tax (VAT), proposed by Finance Minister Uros Cufer as the faster and easiest way to compensate the real estate tax drop.

Bratusek's coalition government, appointed in March 2013, managed to narrowly avoid a bailout in December and recapitalize the country's three-largest state-owned banks.

Parliamentary elections are due in Slovenia in 2015.