Positive Slovenia, a new center-left political party, won 29 percent of the vote in snap parliamentary elections on December 4, defeating the ruling center-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which received almost 26 percent  . . . Positive Slovenia is led by Zoran Jankovic, the mayor of Ljubljana and the former CEO of the retail chain Mercator . . . Jankovic has already promised reforms that include austerity measures as Slovenia risks slipping back into a recession after a small recovery in 2010 . . . Slovenia has been a member of the European Union since 2004 but the EU debt crisis has reduced demand for its exports and Ljubljana saw its credit rating cut to AA- by Standard's and Poor in October . . . in addition, “the jobless rate may increase [from 7.5 percent] to reach 8.4 percent by 2012,” according to the European Commission . . . the election reflected voter concern over Ljubljana’s struggling economy and is part of a broader Europe-wide discontent against incumbent parties . . . Jankovic will have to tread carefully as he builds a ruling coalition, which due to the close election could hamper efforts to impose strict austerity measures.