“This was the time when the communists in the turmoil of World War II started a revolution. This was the time when they began the systematic liquidation of their opponents and imaginary class enemies. Men, women, children. Today’s protests, in which Milan Kučan is an active participant and supporter, use a similar inflammatory language and the same central message. Death. They do not stop at anything, but the absurdity is greater, those who are threatened with death are accused of hate speech,” said Prime Minister Janez Janša in a special issue of the magazine Demokracija about the announced interpellation against Minister Andrej Vizjak. He was interviewed by deputy editor-in-chief Metod Berlec.
In a special issue of the magazine Demokracija, which is intended to attract new subscribers, Prime Minister Janez Janša assessed this year, when we celebrated the 30th birthday of independent Slovenia, and commented on current political developments.
According to Janša, Slovenia’s independence history is exceptional. We can be justifiably proud of it as a nation and as individuals. Unfortunately, the time that followed independence did not fulfil all the expectations and hopes that we placed in the cradle of independent Slovenia. “Unfortunately, we did not use the whole potential we have as a nation and society,” he said.
This year, too, the government has made efforts to combat the COVID-19 virus and, with anti-corona measures in the economic and social field of more than 4 billion, have preserved jobs and improved the social situation of the people. It did not forget anyone. At the same time, the government faced protests, exclusively because the centre-right coalition took power after Šarec’s resignation. “What is happening is what the late Ivan Kramberger announced: When they are not in power, they will protest and call for the death of those in power. He was also the first to be murdered,” Janša said, adding that it was difficult to understand that the government had also been harassed by the courts in their efforts to control the corona crisis. “They act as if the virus has more rights than humans,” he said.
The last head of the League of Communists of Slovenia, Milan Kučan, also took an active part in the persecution against the government, saying at the end of October in Šentjanž: “It is time to say, enough! To resist such a way of governing. To once again stand up for the democratic achievements of human civilisation.” Janša assessed his comparisons as very meaningful.
Regarding NSi as a coalition partner and its future, which the media is constantly trying to bring into conflict with the SDS, Janša believed that its future will be brighter the more it follows the motto of its first president, Dr Andrej Bajuk, who after the founding of the party answered a similar question that the NSi programme is in many ways similar to the SDS or SLS programmes, but also different, otherwise we would not have three parties. “There is not much to add to this insightful thought of Dr Bajuk. Its teaching is valid and will be valid, including for the SDS,” Janša said, adding that he does not know the dynamics of events within the NSi, and that this was an internal matter of each party.
“As for the speech of their MEP (Ljudmila Novak; fn.), which is a more or less a pale copy of Tanja Fajon, such appearances are of course harmful to the party. For anyone who thinks logically, it is clear that voters who decide on the basis of ideology always prefer the original to a copy. It is by no means a coincidence that whenever NSi starts to climb the scales of public opinion, media masters immediately organise a high-profile interview with an MEP who pushes the party back towards the parliamentary threshold,” Janša said.
Regarding the fact that NSi announced that it would not support the interpellated Minister Andrej Vizjak: “This is primarily a verdict based on media pressure, before being informed about the defence and before the interpellation is discussed. Not supporting the Minister is not a direct violation of the coalition agreement, while supporting the interpellation is. (…) In the event of a direct breach of the coalition agreement, the party violating it shall exclude itself from the coalition. This is clear to everyone since the signing of the contract.”
You will be able to read a summary of the interview in the new issue of Demokracija magazine, which was published on Thursday, December 2nd.
Janja Strah
