Ljubljana - Lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar is in the lead three months before the presidential election, with former foreign minister Anže Logar trailing close behind and Freedom Movement candidate Marta Kos in third as the only other serious contender, shows the first presidential poll commissioned by Dnevnik and Večer.

Pirc Musar, an independent, polled at 30.1%, just two points ahead of Logar, who is running with the support of his Democratic Party (SDS). Kos is nine points behind Logar, at 19.4%.

In a potential run-off Pirc Musar would beat Logar by a ten-point margin and Kos by as much as 14 points. A Logar-Kos duel would be much closer with Kos getting 42% and Logar 41.8%.

The figures are broadly in line with a recent poll released by Delo, though the Delo poll gave Logar slightly better odds.

There has been little change in the party rankings since last month, although the opposition gained some ground.

In the coalition ranks, the Freedom Movement is flat at 33.1% whereas the Social Democrats (SD) and Left slipped slightly to 5.5% and 5.1%, respectively.

On the other hand, the SDS inched up slightly to 22.2% and New Slovenia (NSi) gained more than a point to 7.9%.

President Borut Pahor remains the most popular politician, even if his rating slipped slightly. Prime Minister Robert Golob is in second, likewise with a lower rating, followed closely by NSi MEP Ljudmila Novak.

Logar jumped to fourth place, having benefited from media exposure following his announcement that he is entering the presidential race. He is the only presidential candidate in the rankings.

The telephone poll was conducted by Ninamedia between 12 and 14 July and involved 700 respondents.