It was the year 2020 when yet another government of new faces fell. On the 27th of January, Marjan Šarec gave up on leading the country and thus joined the ranks of the opposition. At a difficult time, when the epidemic of the Covid-19 virus was spreading in neighbouring Italy, Janez Janša took over the government. He then led the country all through the global pandemic, as well as the riots organised against him by the Slovenian left. And in spite of all that, we still saw great results of his leadership. We spoke to MP Dejan Kaloh of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) about possible parallels with that time. We also talked about the political potential that remains in the government of Robert Golob and the offer that the SDS party is making to the electorate.
Janez Janša‘s government recorded successes in the healthcare, economic, social and foreign policy fields during its half-term in office. The government managed to contain and overcome the epidemic of the Covid-19 virus, despite the weakened healthcare service it inherited from its predecessors – the government of Marjan Šarec and other governments before it. Janša’s government even recorded successes despite the political violence launched against it by the left. It began to transform a country in ruins, step by step. It set a new course in tax policy that increased disposable income for all citizens. It laid the foundations for a new, demographically oriented social policy. Slovenia led the European Union under the previous government, and its Prime Minister is one of those who first formed the European policy towards the war in Ukraine. And then came the government of Robert Golob.
After a year and a half of the current government, the political situation we saw before the 27th of January 2020 is repeating itself. On the domestic political front, we are faced with a non-operational left-wing government. On the foreign policy front, the situation is deteriorating rapidly. We therefore asked SDS MP Dejan Kaloh whether Slovenia may be experiencing a political déjà vu. He replied that the situation is indeed similar to what we have seen before and that the time is calling for “a prime minister who is recognised and active in the international political sphere.” He recalled how the former Prime Minister visited Kyiv at the time of greatest danger and compared this with the current situation in the Middle East. “The Austrian Chancellor has already visited Israel, but our Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, has not, and neither has Prime Minister Robert Golob – clearly because nobody even knows them. In such a situation, the head of government should be someone who knows how to do this job,” he explained. At the same time, he pointed out that Šarec and Golob have different characters. Golob seems determined to stay in power for the time being, as evidenced by his last announcement that Slovenia would get a lean government – which also did not work out in the end, since after the coalition meeting, he announced that this was just an idea. Probably because reducing the number of ministries would further alienate his coalition partners.
Kaloh: Golob’s government is on autopilot
When asked whether the government still has the political potential to deliver on its most important pre-election promise, the healthcare reform, MP Kaloh’s answer was simple: “No. The authorities have presented a bill on the digitalisation of healthcare as the basis on which the healthcare reform will take place. From reducing waiting times to putting the patient first. Now, they themselves have withdrawn this bill from the procedure. In this case, I agree with the opinion of the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, who also said that there will be no healthcare reform in this mandate.”
He pointed out that the wage reform has also stalled after the “departure” of the Minister of Public Administration, Sanja Ajanović Hovnik. The Prime Minister can also take credit for this. The Minister of Justice also pointed this out when she said that a key mistake was made when the Prime Minister publicly promised a “happy end” for justice workers. His is simply a “frivolous” way of working that will not lead to any reform under this government.
Golob, the last new face?
We then asked MP Kaloh whether Golob has finally destroyed the concept of new faces. We asked him this question in light of the latest public opinion poll results, which are quite disastrous for the Prime Minister. We also wanted to know whether the concept of new faces has already been worn out to the extent that voters will, in the future, instead give their vote to established political forces. Kaloh replied: “We all hope that 2023 will be the year when the ambitious and much-vaunted new faces, which have proved to be a fraud on the electorate every time so far, will come to an end. In the last elections, we had the smart slogan ‘no experiments’. The President of the SDS party already knew then how this story of Robert Golob would end. I sincerely hope that the era of new faces for a mature democracy (Slovenia after 32 years) has come to an end. That voters will not turn again and again to a political option that disappoints them in the end but will instead choose an established party that has a proven track record of successfully leading the country – with this, I am, of course, referring to the SDS party as the leader of the centre-right coalition. Voters have the option to choose the real alternative.”
A panel of experts made up of “world-class politicians”
We then discussed the SDS Expert Council with MP Kaloh. The Council is made up of political champions, former ministers, secretaries of state, and heads of state agencies – in short, experienced politicians who have successfully led the country in the past. “We in the party can be extremely satisfied with the Expert Council. I have personally talked about it with former Minister Vinko Gorenak, who is the Chairman of the Justice Committee, as well as with Janez Stušek, who is the Chairman of the Defence Committee, and several others. They are an excellent set of individuals who have gained experience in the past by running portfolios or other state bodies. This is a platform, or what some media have called a “shadow government,” which can offer expert recommendations and guidance.”
“At the same time, the Expert Council shows voters that the SDS party is always ready for early elections, precisely because it has an extremely rich personnel pool, unlike the parties currently in power, whose personnel pool is impoverished. Even now, Golob has not filled the vacant ministerial spots,” said the MP from Maribor.
Janez Janša’s fourth government is only a matter of time
The MP also said that he is absolutely certain that there will be a fourth Janez Janša government. “It is only a matter of time before it happens,” he explained. He went on to say that on the other side of the political spectrum, a new centre of power has begun to form around the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar. “Talks are going on in the background about a possible replacement for Golob to avoid early elections. They know that if early elections happen, an option will take power which, unlike them, always has something to show for its time in the office.”
Will the next government go beyond political divisions?
Before we finished, we also talked to the MP about the last comment made by the SDS President on the social network X. Janša announced that in the future, before and after the elections, it will be necessary to involve many people who, despite their skills and experience, have so far avoided the executive branch of power. Asked whether the statement could be understood as a call for greater unity in politics or for reaching beyond political constraints, Kaloh said: “I understand the statement in light of the SDS party’s past practices. Every right-wing government has offered a coalition agreement for everyone to sign, except for those who have not already declared themselves against it a priori.”
Kaloh said that the door to power could also be open to experts from the civil sphere, who have so far not been mobilised. As for cooperation that would splash across traditional political boundaries, he believes that the only ones with whom it would not be possible to cooperate are the ones “pointing bayonets at entrepreneurs.”
“Anyone else who has common sense, who wants to work with Slovenia, would be welcome. Of course, under the umbrella of Janez Janša’s leadership, who has already proved three times that he can successfully lead a government even through the depths of various crises,” he concluded.
Žiga Korsika
