Provisional, but conclusive results of the Slovenian presidential election on Monday confirmed the victory of the centre-left candidate, Danilo Turk.

The latest figures show Turk claimed 68.26 per cent of the votes in the run-off Sunday, to easily defeat the conservative opponent, Lojze Peterle, with 31.74.

The up to 45,000 votes from abroad that are yet to be counted cannot even remotely change the outcome, despite the lowest turnout, of under 58 per cent, in any poll since Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia 16 years ago.

Turk is to be inaugurated in December, to succeed the gravely ill outgoing President Janez Drnovsek, who is battling cancer and did not seek re-election.

He will become the third president from the political left since Slovenia gained independence in 1991, after Milan Kucan twice and Drnovsek since 2002.

The office of the president carries largely ceremonial authority in Slovenia, the only former Yugoslav republic so far to join the European Union and NATO, both in 2004.

The tiny Alpine-Adriatic country assumes the rotating half-year presidency of the EU on January 1.