BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia's ruling leftists are on course to win the March 5 parliamentary election with 32.5 percent support but will likely lose their outright majority, the final poll by the MVK agency said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party would win 58 seats in 150-member parliament, the poll showed, and would have a slim majority of 77 seats together with the Slovak National Party, its most likely coalition partner.
Smer now has an outright majority, holding 83 seats.
Newcomer centrist party Siet, which has sought to establish itself as the main opposition force, polled at 14.5 percent and would win 26 seats.
A strong result for Siet and other centre-right and ethnic Hungarian parties could lead to either a wider coalition led by Smer, a grand coalition of Siet with Smer, or a wide coalition of opposition parties that would eject Smer from power.
Fico has made immigration a main platform of his campaign, while the opposition has focused on anti-corruption rhetoric and promises of business-friendly reforms.
The two-time prime minister remains popular, in part thanks a package of social welfare measures in the last year, including hikes of maternity benefits and halving the sales tax on some groceries.
However, he has also faced public protests in the past weeks from teachers and nurses demanding higher wages.