“The time 33 years ago was a time of the peak of the national will, the only time in our history when the nation wrote its own story. It was so magnificent and so convincing that even those for whom an independent Slovenia was not the preferred option, in the end, were not able to hold it back,” Janez Janša, the President of the largest opposition party – Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), pointed out, among other things, as a guest on Tuesday’s episode of the show Planet 18.
According to Janez Janša, the independence referendum demonstrated the unity of the people, but the politics of the time was not as united as it is now being made out to be. It was very divided. “The independence referendum project showed a seemingly united front, because an agreement was signed, but as early as January, February, it became clear that some people were in favour of independence, but only in an operative way, without Slovenia actually taking effective power into its own hands.”
As he said, a lot of work was done to ensure that Slovenia would not be able to defend this decision. “Everyone knew that we could declare independence, but if we failed to put this into practice and defend this decision, if necessary, with weapons, then it would have been a fake independence.”
He pointed out that he had read notes from those times. “A glorious result was demonstrated – the unity of the nation was demonstrated. In January 1991, a poll was published asking people if they believed that Belgrade, Yugoslav politics, and the Yugoslav People’s Army, would try to prevent the plebiscite decision from being implemented by force. Only 7 percent of Slovenians believed that someone would react by force,” he recalled, adding that there was a great effort to convince others that it was necessary to arm themselves.
33 years ago was a time of the peak of national will
When asked how he remembered the time 33 years ago, Janša replied that 33 years ago was the time of the peak of the national will, the only time in our history when the nation – literally – wrote its own story. “ It was so magnificent and so convincing that even those for whom an independent Slovenia was not the preferred option, in the end, were not able to hold it back,” he stressed.
He then also pointed out that today, at state celebrations under governments not led by the Slovenian Democratic Party, the speakers at the ceremony do not even mention the name of Dr Jože Pučnik, who was a key figure in Slovenian independence. Nor do they mention the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (Demokratična opozicija Slovenije) – DEMOS. DEMOS, he said, was patient at the time. “DEMOS sacrificed a lot for this apparent political unity. If I compare this with the calls for a purge of the Janšaists, the exclusion that we receive every time an election campaign starts, then we see a big difference between the behaviour of a pro-Slovenian democratic coalition and what we have in power today,” he pointed out.
The people, on whose behalf judgments will be made, will read in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia who it is that will judge them
One of the big issues of the recent months is undoubtedly the change of the Slovenian Constitution. When asked why he found the proposed changes controversial in the part that provides for the appointment of judges, Janša replied that it was because judges are currently being appointed by the National Assembly in a public procedure, on the proposal of the Judicial Council. “Very few of these proposals have been rejected, but some have been, and some have not even been nominated for this office, precisely because those who have a majority in the Judicial Council were afraid of a public debate. Now, however, it is proposed that the public be excluded from this procedure, that the Judicial Council draw up a proposal, send it to the President of the Republic, who signs it. And the people, on whose behalf future judgments will be made, will have to read in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia who it is that will judge them.” Janša believes that this takes away a fundamental dimension of democracy, publicity and transparency of the procedure, but on the other hand, a two-thirds majority has also been proposed for the adoption of a technical law on the Judicial Council, which means that “the current government coalition, with the help of the New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi), which is proposing this, will also cement the technical procedures, i.e. the way of decision-making in the Judicial Council, the Judicial Council’s way of adopting decisions when it comes to disciplinary procedures within the judiciary, and so on.” In short, Janša believes that this is a major departure from democracy.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, he said that he is pleased that this government has continued the policy that we Slovenians actually helped to introduce in the European corridors, when it came to building unity in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. And in regards to developments in the Middle East, he said that Slovenia’s policy was too one-sided. “It is a blatantly pro-Palestinian position, which is wrong, because in this case it was not Israel that started the conflict.” He pointed out that this was a terrorist attack by Hamas with the overwhelming support of the population in Gaza. “What we need to keep in mind here is who was the one that caused the aggression and who merely reacted to the aggression. But if we put this in a broader context, we see that this is, above all, a major defeat for the world order, that someone has taken advantage of this simmering conflict to divert the attention of the world public, of the world decision-makers who support Ukraine, to another point of conflict.” According to Janša, this is “the cynical behaviour of people in Moscow and Tehran who knew how many children would die, who knew what the cost in human lives would be on both sides, and yet chose to make this move”. The world order exists, in his opinion, above all when the interests of the great are at stake, and even then, it is often in conflict with itself. “That is to say, both the experience of 33 years ago and what surrounds us today must teach us that we must rely above all on ourselves.”
They cannot keep fooling everyone all the time
Regarding the latest opinion polls, he said that the fog that had been created around the Covid-19 epidemic had partially dissipated shortly after the epidemic had passed. “Unfortunately, the elections were held while this fog was still there. A year and a half later, the fog of propaganda of lies has dissolved. People are making comparisons. And they cannot keep fooling everyone all the time. In the end, everyone is able to compare the situation in their wallets, the numbers on their bills, the promises that someone keeps and others don’t,” Janša was critical, adding that it was a fact that Slovenia has potential, it can achieve a lot, it can go beyond its relative size, but it is necessary to have ideas, perseverance, courage, as we had 33 years ago. “Sooner or later, the chaff is lost in the wind, but the seeds remain.”
Ž. N.
