Tuerk had decided to disolve parliament after the government of Prime Minister Borut Pahor was ousted in a failed confidence vote on 20 September and there were no proposals for new prime minister-designate from parliament.

The president waited for the 30-day period in which proposals for a new PM-designate be filed prior to signing the decree on disolution.

This is the first time that Slovenia will hold an early election and Tuerk decided to sign the decree immediately after midnight in order to allow the process of registering candidates to begin as soon as possible.

The filing of election bids for what will be the sixth general election since Slovenia gained independence in 1991 will run from today until 9 November.

Candidates can be registered by political parties with the signature of three MPs or 50 voters for each electoral unit.

Non-party lists must be filed with the backing of at least 1,000 voter signatures for each of the election units in which the list wants to run.

The official election campaign will begin a month before the election, on 4 November. Parties now have until Monday to open special bank accounts for the campaign.

Despite the dissolution of parliament, MPs will see their term end when the new National Assembly is constituted within 20 days of election day.