Slovenia's President Borut Pahor was re-elected to a second term Sunday after winning a runoff election against a former comedian who currently serves as the mayor of a northern town.
Borut Pahor won about 53 percent of the vote, with 99.9 percent of the votes counted, according to the Election Commission, while his opponent, ex-comedian Marjan Sarec, had 47 percent.
Turnout was about 42 percent and Pahor is the second Slovenian president to win a second term in office since the country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
'I will be the president of all (Slovenians), I will connect people, build upon the things we have in common,' Pahor told reporters He further said that he would focus on cooperation, political stability and security.
The president, in Slovenia, leads the army and also nominates several top officials, including the central bank governor. Most of his nominations have to be confirmed by parliament.
Marjan Sarec, who is mayor of the northern town of Kamnik and represents a party that does not have seats in parliament, said he was encouraged by the close result even though he lost with 47 percent of the votes. However, he refused to say whether his party would run in a general election expected in June next year.
"This is a very good result regardless of the final outcome ... and shows that the time for a generation change has arrived," he told TV Slovenia.
"Tomorrow is a new day and then we will see how to proceed," he replied when asked whether his party would run in the general election.
In the first round three weeks ago, Pahor won about 47 percent of the vote among nine candidates, with Sarec coming in second with almost 25 percent.
An online celebrity
A former fashion model, Pahor is also known as "the king of the Instagram" for frequently posting photos on social media showing him in various sporting activities as well as his official duties.
Pahor was a long-serving leader of the centre-left Social Democrats but ran for president both times as an independent candidate. He was Slovenian prime minister from 2008 to 2012, the run-up to the worst financial crisis in Slovenia's history.
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