New Delhi, March 24 -- Slovenia's governing liberals and opposition right-wing populists were neck and neck after a highly contested parliamentary election on Sunday, near-complete preliminary results showed, heralding a period of political uncertainty in the small European Union country.

Prime Minister Robert Golob's center-left Freedom Movement won 28.5% of the votes while the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party, or SDS, led by ex-premier Janez Jansa - an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump - had 28.1%, the State Election Commission said after counting some 99% of the ballots.

The practically equal result means that none of the main parties will have a majority in the 90-member parliament and that whoever will form a future gover...