On Tuesday, Aleš Primc, one of Slovenia’s best-known civil society activists, said that they have managed to collect more than 30,000 signatures for a referendum for the protection of children and families. In just five days, they have thus achieved their first goal. “This is 12 times more signatures than the number required by law. We are sending a wonderful message to the Government and the National Assembly: ‘We respect motherhood and fatherhood. A child needs a mother and a father. The State must respect this, too,’” Primc said.
Aleš Primc also thanked everyone who contributed their signature. “Thank you to everyone who collected signatures! Thank you to all of you who organised the collection of signatures in your hometowns all across Slovenia! Thank you to everyone who brought the signatures you collected to Ljubljana. Thank you to everyone who prayed for this. Thank you to everyone who donated money to this cause. From the bottom of my heart, thank you and congratulations on all the work we have done!”
Branko Grims, an MP from the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), also responded to the number of collected signatures, which clearly reflects the position that the citizens have towards the new Family Code. Namely, Grims stressed that the fact that 30 thousand citizens signed the call for a referendum for the protection of families and children clearly shows that true values, the protection of children and the natural family, motherhood and fatherhood, are firmly rooted among Slovenians and that this gives us all hope and strength for the future.
Details on the next steps will be known soon
On Tuesday, a petition for a family referendum to protect children and families was submitted to the National Assembly, backed by 30,637 signatures. It is now possible that the Speaker of the National Assembly, Urška Klakočar Zupančič, will announce a deadline for the collection of 40,000 signatures certified at administrative units or that the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia will adopt a decision not to call a referendum. “If the deadline for collecting signatures is announced, we will start collecting signatures at the administrative units immediately,” Primc said, adding that the details would soon be clear. “If the decision is taken not to call a referendum, we will, as in 2011 and 2015, file a complaint with the Constitutional Court and continue the legal battle in the Constitutional Court,” he was clear.
Primc also invited everyone to watch his high-profile interview with Uroš Slak on POP TV, on the show “One on One” (“Ena na ena”) and the show “Who Is Lying to You?” (“Kdo vam laže?”) with Boris Tomašič on Nova24TV, where all of the arguments for a new family referendum to protect children and families were presented. “All of you who have the option of a time delay on your televisions and can thus watch the programmes even now, I invite you to watch the conversation on the show “One on One,” which was broadcast on Saturday, the 8th of October, at 17.50 on POP TV. The show is also available on Voyo. And you can watch the show “Who Is Lying to You?” with TV show host Boris Tomašič, which was broadcast on Friday, the 7th of October, here.”
“In the middle of July, in the hottest days of the summer, the Golob government decided that it wanted a continuation of the demographic winter – in other words, that it wants to make sure that the Slovenian nation and our way of life are torn down once and for all. I am convinced that this is not the view of the vast majority of Slovenians, regardless of which party they voted for,” Primc, a campaigner for children’s rights and head of the demography sector at the abolished Government Office for Demography, said on the show “Who Is Lying to You?”. He announced that this is not the end of the fight, as the Office will return even bigger and stronger – in the form of a new ministry. “Traditional values, such as respect for one’s mother and father, are fundamental values that will live on as long as humanity exists,” he stressed.
And even though Slovenia has not had a fertility rate that would guarantee natural population replacement for more than 40 years now, there is a belief on the part of those in power that the key problem is not that there are too few children being born. As for the appointment of Luka Mesec from the Left party (Levica) to the position of Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Primc considers it a professional scandal of the Ministry, similar to the Ministry of Health denying the existence of diseases. “This is, of course, crazy and very harmful to our future,” he believes. A summary of the show is available here.
However, as there is a lot of administrative work to be done in the near future, which can be done at home, Primc is inviting volunteers to help (to apply, contact them at the e-mail address [email protected]). With this, Primc is also asking for financial support to carry out the activities for the family referendum for the protection of children and families. “We are asking you to do what you can to help us carry out the activities for the family referendum for the protection of children and families,” Primc said, attaching the details of their bank account for any financial contributions.
You can make a donation at:
Združenje Gibanje za otroke in družine
Bank account number:SI56 6000 0000 0664 036
Reference: SI 99
Purpose: Družinski referendum 2022
Sara Kovač
