He pointed out that his bid had been backed by a third of MPs, which was a "nice achievement", and called on the citizens to join him in his campaign "until the final victory on St Martin's Sunday".

Zver expects the campaign to bring answers on how Slovenia should get out of the crisis, and a debate on a wide range of issues, including changes to the Constitution.

President Danilo Türk, who is running for another term, clearly stated his opposition to some of the government-sponsored reform proposals a few days ago in his address to the Managers' Club, according to Zver.

The focal points of Zver's campaign will be his solutions for political stability and economic consolidation, and patriotism.

He expects "intensive campaigning" and an "excellent result in the first round". He plans to address the voters mostly through the media from now on, and present his positions on the most burning issues.

The public sector must understand the current situation and take its share of the burden, he believes. He also feels cuts in education are urgently needed.

As regards to the raising of the VAT for printed media, he said that if VAT was rising for other products and services "there is no reason why the media system, which in Slovenia is above average in terms of development, would not share the burden of exiting the crisis".

Zver is the second candidate to officially submit his bid. The first was Türk, who submitted it at the end of August. Other candidates have until 17 October to follow suit.

Zver, Türk and former Prime Minister Borut Pahor are the contenders with the best chance of success.

The official campaign starts on Friday.