“We deserve a better country. That is why we will stand for respect, cooperation and freedom on the 24th of April,” said the newly formed Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda), whose president is the electricity oligarch Robert Golob. Apparently, Golob and his movement, judging by what was said in yesterday’s televised confrontation on the television channel Kanal A, imagine a future that will be contrary to the personal freedom of an individual. He suggested that meat consummation be limited.
The elections are just around the corner, and the pre-election debates are in full swing. At yesterday’s first long-awaited debate between current Prime Minister Janez Janša and the new face of the left, Robert Golob, the two talked about the consequences of the war in Ukraine and discussed suggestions on how to mitigate the consequences in the future. Apparently, Golob believes that one of the possible solutions is to limit meat consumption. He said the following: “Livestock farming and meat consumption are too great. And just a day or two without meat, if we really dedicate to it, would solve this shortage of feed in a very short time.”
What Golob said did not go unnoticed by the citizens, so, as expected, lots of them commented on it on Twitter, writing things like: “There will be meat for everyone. Following the even-odd system. For ordinary people, of course. Golob will stick with lobsters and caviar. Just like everyone should use solar power plants, except for him.”, “I listened to this crap about 20 years ago, at some vegan event. Except that Golob mixed things up a bit. Yes, it is true that livestock farming is very energy consuming. But on the other hand, food (protein) of non-animal origin is much more expensive and includes lots more additives.”, “Golob is talking about meat… What about the people who already eat meat only once a week? Golob only has solutions for himself, and for people like him. He should show us his tax return if he decided to enter politics! Does he have special criteria for himself? The voters should show him where his place is!”
However, this is far from being the only peculiar statement said by the new favourite of the deep state. Among other things, he also said that he would not only form a coalition with political parties after the elections but that he would form a coalition primarily with the civil society. It is not entirely clear here whether Golob is aware that all parties, including the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi), and Concretely party (Konkretno), are also representatives of the civil society. In a parliamentary democracy, which is exactly what Slovenia is, the whole thing works like this: members of parties are elected by the people with the intention of representing the voters’ interests in the National Assembly. Unless he imagined people like Jaša Jenull or Tea Jarc, the leaders of the anti-government Fridays’ cycling protests, or the Director of the Institute of the 8th of March (Inštitut 8. marec), Nika Kovač to walk around parliament on a daily basis and talk about what should be done.
It is also undoubtedly worrying that for Golob, the possibility of being part of the opposition is clearly out of the question. How should the citizens feel about this? Will he leave politics if they do not win, just as quickly as he entered it?
Since we also heard a whole bunch of criticism from the parties of the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition (the left-wing parties of the current opposition) during the term of Janez Janša’s government, the question of whether they would advocate for respectful communication was one of the first ones asked at the debate. Golob, for example, said that his party would engage in a respectful dialogue with everyone, but especially with the people. At this point, many viewers wondered who it was that he intends to have the dialogue with, besides the people?
Sara Kovač
