Slovenia's leftist opposition submitted a no-confidence motion on Wednesday, in its second attempt this year to topple the centre-right government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

The first time, in mid-January, the motion was withdrawn as some parlamentary deputies would have not been able to participate in a secret ballot due to COVID-19 infection.

The opposition has said it is unhappy with the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, its jeopardising of media freedom and siding with Hungary and Poland in disputes in the European Union over democratic standards in those countries.

The Pensioners' Party (DESUS) said that five opposition parties had submitted the signatures needed to enforce the vote, which must take place between Friday and Wednesday next week, STA news agency reported.

Slovenia's parliament has 90 seats and the opposition must muster 46 votes to topple the government. At the moment Jansa's government insists it has a tiny but solid majority, but the opposition counts on some deputies of the centre-left Party of Modern Centre (SMS), which is part of the ruling coalition.

"It is up to them to decide whether they want to keep the government on the course set by Janez Jansa, which we think is wrong, or they will finally get back to the social-liberal values," said former prime minister Alenka Bratusek, whose party, SAB, is among those that support the no-confidence motion.

The opposition's candidate to take over as prime minister is DESUS's leader, Karl Erjavec.