BELGRADE, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian voters will choose a new president on Sunday in the runoff of an election that pits former prime minister Lojze Peterle and Danilo Tuerk, a former senior UN diplomat.

    Polls will open at 7:00 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT) and close at 7:00 p.m. (18:00 GMT), according to news reaching here.

    Preliminary official results are expected to be released on Sunday evening.

    Some 1.7 million Slovenians are eligible for voting. Apart from nearly 3,700 polling stations in Slovenia, ballots can also be cast at 34 diplomatic missions abroad.

    The latest surveys showed Tuerk, 55, a law professor, has a clear edge over 59-year-old Peterle, who is a Slovenian deputy in the European Parliament.

    A victory for Tuerk would be a blow to Peterle's ally, Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose government's popularity has hit a record low, and would invigorate the leftist opposition before parliamentary elections next year.

    The president is elected to a five-year term. The job is largely ceremonial but it carries some authority over defense and foreign matters.

    Tuerk is an independent candidate supported by the leftist opposition. Peterle, also an independent candidate, enjoys backing from the center-right governing coalition.

    The winner will replace President Janez Drnovsek, who has decided not to seek a second term. He was prime minister from 1992to 2002 and has since served as president.

    This is the fourth presidential election in Slovenia since it declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Five years ago, Drnovsek defeated Barbara Brezigar, then supreme state prosecutor.

    In the first round of the election on Oct. 21, turnout was lower at 57.7 percent in comparison with the three previous presidential polls.

    Peterle was the front-runner in the first round, but won only 28.7 percent of the vote -- far short of the 50 percent required for an outright victory. Tuerk was four percentage points behind.

    Slovenia joined the European Union (EU) and NATO in 2004. The vote comes two months before the southeast European country of 2 million people takes over the half-year rotating EU presidency.