Bratislava - Neither of the main candidates in Slovakia's presidential election secured enough votes for outright victory, results showed Sunday, forcing a run off contest in two week's time.

Saturday's election was won by incumbent President Ivan Gasparovic, 67, with 46.7 per cent of the vote, whilst his chief rival, lawmaker Iveta Radicova, 52, had 38 per cent.

That result is far closer than final opinion polls had beeen predicting, but neither due to low turnout neither candidate could be declared president.

Sunday's complete, but unofficial, results were provided by the Slovak Statistics Office.

Radicova was seen as the only one of the six challengers posing a threat to Gasparovic, who has heavily relied on the greater popularity of his Prime Minister, Robert Fico, in his campaign.

The second round, planned for April 4, thus turns into a duel between Fico's center-left government and the embattled right-wing opposition, unpopular for its belt-tightening pro-market reforms that kick-started the Slovak economy.

According to the statisticians, 43.63 per cent of some 4.3 million eligible voters showed up at the polls on Saturday.

Full, official results are expected from the Central Election Commission later Sunday. dpa