Voters in Slovenia have narrowly elected the centre-left coalition led by the Social Democrats over the ruling centre-right party.
SD party leader Borut Pahor has allied with Zares and the Liberal Democrats for a total of 43 seats in the 90-seat parliament.
They beat out incumbent Prime Minister Janez Jansa's Slovenian Democrats party, which did not have any allies.
The pensioners' party, Desus, won seven seats and indicated it would side with the winners, but coalition talks have yet to start and could last for weeks.
The centre-left parties have pledged to cut public spending in order to curb high inflation, the country's main economic worry, but analysts said on Monday it may not be an easy ride.
Desus, which had been a junior partner in the previous conservative government over the past four years, has already demanded a pension hike and better healthcare.
Desus leader Karl Erjavec said after preliminary results were announced that most proceeds from the sale of state stakes in companies should be used for the long-term stability of the country's shaky pension system.
Slovenia has been the most successful EU accession country since joining the union in 2004.
In January 2007, it became the first accession country to adopt the euro and has just completed its turn at the EU presidency in the first half of this year.
While it boasts the highest growth in the eurozone, it also has the highest rate of inflation.
