The Social Democrat leader, Borut Pahor - who, with his two certain allied parties is close to winning a majority in Parliament - called his party’s results Sunday a "success," but did not declare victory.

Asked by The Associated Press whether he would be the next premier, he said: "Well, I don’t know that yet. But I have a good feeling."

Jansa would have a much more difficult time trying to cobble together a majority to stay in power. He acknowledged that Pahor and his partners would probably form the new Cabinet.

Still, he said his congratulations to Pahor would wait until results are final.

"Everything is still open," he said.

Voters had faced a choice between a prime minister bruised by a corruption claim and a leftist opposition that said the incumbent was endangering the nation’s democracy.

Results from the state-run Electoral Commission showed that, with about 99 percent of votes counted, the Social Democrats held a lead of one percentage point. The results give the party 29 seats in 90-seat parliament; Jansa is projected to control 28.

With support of his two certain allies, Pahor will control about 43 seats - just three short of a majority.

Jansa seemed to be in a much less favorable situation: One of his two allies did not make it into Parliament at all, the results showed, making it difficult for Jansa to find allies to challenge the leftist opposition.