By Marja Novak
LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Former Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa said on Monday his trial on bribery charges was an attempt by authorities to undermine the challenge from his opposition party in a parliamentary election expected within months.
The latest opinion polls in the European Union member state show Jansa's centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) in first place ahead of an election that could come in December.
Jansa -- prime minister from 2004 till 2008 -- and four co-defendants went on trial this month charged with bribery over a 2006 defence deal with Finnish armoured vehicles producer Patria worth 278 million euros (239 million pounds).
"This process was initiated to influence the election," Jansa told Reuters during a court recess on Monday. "I had nothing to do with this deal and that can be proved."
A government spokesman declined to comment.
Finland is also investigating allegations Patria bribed Slovenian officials to secure the deal. Patria is majority owned by the Finnish state and EADS owns about 27 percent of the company.
Prime Minister Borut Pahor's centre-left government faces a confidence vote in parliament in the second half oalisonf September, after losing its parliamentary majority in May. If the vote fails, it could trigger an early election as soon as December.
"The fact is that this trial will probably result in the SDS getting less votes in the next election than it would get if there were no trial but it is too early to say whether it could cost it a victory at the election," said Borut Hocevar, an editor at daily Zurnal24.
Pahor has asked that the confidence vote come in the form of a vote on five new ministers replacing those withdrawn when two parties quit the coalition over internal disputes.
The next parliamentary election is due in September 2012, though Pahor has suggested he might aim for an early election in the first half of 2011 even if he wins the confidence vote.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)
