This year, SDS, the largest parliamentary party, held its 26th summer gathering of the SDS party and Dr. Henrik Tuma’s Mountaineering Club. The traditional meeting of the SDS municipal and city committees, which took place on Saturday, also served as the introduction to the SDS summer gathering. A large crowd gathered at the event, and everyone who attended either had to have a negative PCR test, a certificate of recovery or a certificate of vaccination. Prime Minister Janez Janša and the president of the Mountaineering Club, dr. Anton Jeglič, among others, both addressed the gathered crowd. There was also a presentation of the culinary specialties of the regional committees, a cultural and entertainment programme with live music, and the awarding of the AJP diplomas.
Prime Minister Janez Janša’s address was definitely the highlight of the summer gathering in Bovec. At the recent SDS party congress in Slovenska Bistrica, Janša won a new four-year term as the head of the largest parliamentary party, which also won the last parliamentary elections but did not form the government at the time. Janša also pointed that out in his address, as the party was still in opposition at the time of the previous gathering (last year, the gathering was cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis).
“At the time, I said that the then-government would not last until the end of its term. Since then, the SDS party and its partners took on the responsibility of leading the government. Imagine holding elections during the epidemic,” Janša said, adding that he believes that life will get easier in the coming months, but that this will only happen if more people get vaccinated. He believes that no one wants a repeat of what happened last autumn. He also took the opportunity to thank the members of the party who helped those most affected by the epidemic during these trying times. He added that the party will continue with its solidarity.
The president of the SDS party also pointed out that the party and the government had faced many obstacles in the last year, during the fight against the epidemic. According to him, these mainly came from those who operate on different principles than the Slovenian Democratic Party. “In the SDS party, we have always worked according to the following principle – the better for Slovenia, the better for the SDS party. Unfortunately, during this time, we met a lot of people who follow the principle of – the worse for Slovenia, the better for them. They tried to prevent us from working and blocked things, just to make the government’s job harder.”
Regardless of all that, the Prime Minister added that we have never had so many patriots working for the good of Slovenia and that the party has never had so much experience. “The parliamentary elections will take place in less than a year, so we will celebrate the new victory of the SDS party at the next summer gathering,” he confidently announced a new victory, which was followed by loud applause. Let us remind you that in 2018, the SDS party got the most votes and won 25 seats in the elections, which is more than the second and third parties – LMŠ and SD – combined.
The fact that Janša strongly believes in the success of the SDS party is also due to the achievements of his government, which has achieved one of the highest economic growth rates in the European Union and one of the lowest unemployment rates, and for a large part of the economy, the biggest problem is the lack of workers. Not a week goes by without the opening of a new plant and new investments.
Before Janša, the members were addressed by the president of Dr. Henrik Tuma’s Mountaineering club, Dr. Anton Jeglič, and leader of the SDS parliamentary group in the National Assembly, Danijel Krivec, a local from Bovec. Dr. Jeglič said: “More and more of us who love our homeland gather here every year. Patriotism is united in the SDS party and the Skala mountaineering club, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Back when the club was established, young mountaineers wanted something more, and they were already pushing the boundaries, just like the Slovenian Democratic Party is pushing them now.” And Krivec said the following in his address: “In politics, many people dislike our party. However, we will not retreat, we will continue to fight. They will run out of
energy, but we will not. We will continue to work for the good of Slovenia,” Krivec announced.
The programme will continue until the 7th of August when the traditional hike to Triglav will happen The annual gathering will last until Saturday, the 7th of August 2021, and will end with the traditional hike of the SDS members and sympathisers to Triglav. In addition to Triglav, members will also hike to Nizki vrh (2162 meters), Lemež (2043 meters), and Škrlatica (2740 meters). There will also be rafting activities and a cycling tour to Mangartsko sedlo (2040 meters). All of the events will surely be interesting for the sympathisers as well, and the participants will surely be in good spirits this time as well.
Luka Perš
