Apparently, some people are unable to come to terms with the recent results of the report of the American non-governmental organisation Freedom House, in which Slovenia received 95 points on the scale by which they measured the level of freedom for 2020. Which is one point more than the year before. The leader of the LMŠ parliamentary group, Brane Golubović, often refers to last year’s result, as he is trying to create the impression in the public that the current government is bragging about the successes that are supposedly the work of Marjan Šarec’s government.
Brane Golubović stated the following: “We rank 14th in the world in regard to freedom, according to the data and the situation in the country from the year 2019, when the government was still led by Marjan Šarec. Some people forget leave this part out on purpose when bragging about the Freedom House report for 2020.” It is obvious that Golubović was trying to create the impression that the government is lying. However, the truth is that Golubović posted last year’s report, which included data for the year 2019, and in which Slovenia is rated worse than this year.
The data for Slovenia is more than favourable The recent report of the American non-governmental organisation Freedom House states that for the 15th year in a row, there has been a decline in the level of freedom around the world, but it should be pointed out that the data is more than favourable for Slovenia. Namely, Slovenia scored 95 points on the scale by which the level of freedom is measured. For 2019, Slovenia received one point less, so 94, and in 2018, the result was 93, which means that in 2020, we improved the level of freedom in the country. Given that this figure represents the best result since 2017, it is more than obvious that the claims of the opposition, which failed to return to power with the help of the vote of no confidence, are at odds with any logic. Namely, they are trying to convince the public that when the government of Janez Janša is in power, we live in an “authoritarian state,” where human rights and fundamental freedoms are not respected.
Far from Golubović being the only one who spreads misleading information. Šarec’s adviser Damir Črnčec also insists that the government read the methodology wrong. Namely, Šarec’s right hand wrote on Twitter: “Supporters of the current government are bragging about the Freedom House report for 2020. They just happened to “forget” to mention that the data was collected in 2019. I suggest they take a quick look at the methodology. As usual, they are taking credit for the successes of others. Under the government of Marjan Šarec, we ranked this high. #2021?” Interestingly, the very person who is blaming others for not reading the methodology thoroughly enough certainly did not read it himself. Namely, the data is available for each year separately. If he looked at it, he would have seen that Slovenia received a higher number of points on the scale, which measures the level of freedom in 2020, than it did in 2019. Some people can make a lot of lies sound like the truth, but the mathematical laws are clear; 95 is more than 94. No matter how much some would like it to be the other way around.
As the Americans say: “When numbers talk, bullshit walks.” This means that when facts are available, there should be no room for demagoguery. In light of the aforementioned facts, such a response from the LMŠ party just seems like a voice of despair. It is pretty obvious that some people simply cannot come to terms with the fact that the vote of no confidence failed, as the opposition tried so hard to sell the story of how democracy is allegedly being attacked under the Janez Janša government. Since the vote of no confidence failed, they began selling the bizarre story of “the media and the democratic principles being attacked in Slovenia” on the very next day. The left-wing bureaucrats and others who have no idea what the actual situation in Slovenia is like quickly joined in. Freedom House’s recent findings are very telling and prove that the news surrounding the lack of media freedom is nothing more than lies and nonsense that only benefit those who are hungry for power. They are most certainly not in the best interest of the country of Slovenia as a whole.
Sara Kovač
