Slovakia holds early parliamentary polls.

Polls opened in Slovakia on Saturday in an early election brought on by the government's collapse in a confidence vote, with polls indicating success for one of the few leading politicians to escape voter anger for a major corruption scandal, The Associated Press reported.

The outgoing four-party governing coalition is facing a strong challenge from former Prime Minister Robert Fico's left wing opposition party.

Analysts have predicted that Slovaks could turn out in record low numbers of just 40 percent to register their anger, and the first few hours of voting seemed to confirm that.

Outgoing Prime Minister Iveta Radicova's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union looks likely to be hardest hit by allegations that a private financial group bribed government and opposition politicians in 2005-06 to win lucrative privatization deals.

The "Gorilla" files - posted online by an anonymous source in December and said to be based on wiretaps - have rocked the already-raucous world of Slovak politics.

One former economy minister is said to have received the equivalent of euro10 million ($13 million) for his assistance.