“I would be most pleased if I could praise the government – if I could say that it is delivering what it promised the people less than three years ago, that Prime Minister Robert Golob is not misleading, lying, manipulating, and that the government has not been making empty promises for three years. Unfortunately, I cannot do that because I would be lying,” said SDS MP Černač in his opening remarks.
Presumably just a year before the elections, the government of Robert Golob defended itself for the second time in front of MPs. Both interpellations were tabled by the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS). This time, it accused the government of lying and manipulation regarding the pension reform of the second Janez Janša government (from the year 2012). The interpellation also got the support of the New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi) and Anže Logar‘s Democrats (Demokrati). The interpellation was filed in February. As SDS MP Zvone Černač pointed out at the time of its tabling, this is an urgent political and social debate on the statements made by the Prime Minister, who has deliberately misled the public. The interpellation took place in the context of the 30th Regular Session of the National Assembly. There were 14 hours available for it.
“I would be most pleased if I could praise the government”
The introductory remarks were made by the petitioner, Mr Černač: “I would be most pleased if I could praise the government – if I could say that it is delivering what it promised the people less than three years ago, that Prime Minister Robert Golob is not misleading, lying, manipulating, and that the government has not been making empty promises for three years. Unfortunately, I cannot do that because I would be lying. Why is that so? I will briefly outline this in my introduction.” He pointed out that the pension reform constitutes one of the milestones for access to the Recovery and Resilience Funds. He also noted that the ruling authorities committed to implementing the pension reform in their coalition agreement (for one mandate).
Janša’s government made decent pensions possible
Černač also recalled that the government should have adopted the pension reform by the end of last year (the government had negotiated an extension until the 30th of June this year). He also pointed out that pensions are a sensitive area that concerns everyone and that substantive changes require a broader political and social consensus. The MP then recalled the failure of the Pahor government (in 2011) and the success of the Janša government (in 2012) in this area. The latter halted the decline in the value of pensions and made it possible to ensure more decent pensions in the future. “Trust and credibility are paramount in politics, and trust cannot be built on manipulation and lies.”
Klakočar Zupančič was scared of the truth and silenced Černač
“At the start of the collection of signatures for the call for a subsequent legislative referendum on the law, which was approved again by the coalition after a veto by the National Council, and which grants privileged pensions of between 2,000 and 3,100 euros to individuals, Prime Minister Golob publicly told a series of lies about the pension reform adopted in 2012. And he repeated these lies several times,” continued Černač. The MP played Golob’s statement from the 24ur show, which seemed to bother the Speaker of the National Assembly, Urška Klakočar Zupančič, a lot. She asked whether videos could be played during sittings, which is not the same as Powerpoint presentations, which were the MPs’ own creations.
Golob did not apologise to pensioners for lies, hence the interpellation
Černač, however, believes that the truth hurts and that the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly do not prohibit videos from being played. He then had a problem with the second recording. In it, the expert position on halting the decline in pensions was presented. He recalled that the SDS party parliamentary group had called on Golob to apologise to pensioners and had announced that an interpellation would be lodged if no apology was forthcoming. He recalled, among other things, that at the time of the adoption – in 2012, all MPs voted in favour of the law, both those from the coalition, as well as those from the opposition.
Sušnik: Pensioners were doing best under the Janša government
Černač: “The current ministers Alenka Bratušek and Matjaž Han, the Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda) MP Tamara Vonta, State Secretary Matevž Frangež, prominent Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD) member Dejan Židan, and Maša Kociper, who is now employed in the Prime Minister’s Office, all voted in favour of the law. Prime Minister, do you think that all these colleagues of yours voted in favour of a bad law, about which you have repeatedly lied in public?” The SDS MP then pointed out that the law was also supported by the trade unions. All the social partners also supported the law. Janez Sušnik, President of the Union of Pensioners’ Associations, said that pensioners were doing best under the Janša government. He was referring to the first Janša government. Černač also showed a graph of the growth of pensions under the respective governments, which – once again – proved that pensions grew the most during the times of the Janša governments.
If the Pensions Act 2 (ZPIZ-2) had not been adopted, pensions would have been about a fifth lower today!
Černač then said: “The graph clearly shows that pensions increased the most during the periods of the Janša-led governments. This is official data from the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ). During the first mandate (2004-2008), pensions increased by over 20 percent.” Černač is certain that if the Pension and Disability Insurance Act (ZPIZ) had not been adopted then, the value of pensions would have started to decline after 2012. The law was written for the benefit of all pensioners, meanwhile, the current government is passing laws for the privileged, such as the one being talked about in recent months, which will be decided on in a referendum on the 11th of May. If the Pension and Disability Insurance Act 2 had not been passed during the second Janša government, then pensions would have been about a fifth lower.
The privileged will be exempt from the new tax
The law proposed by the Golob government on individual beneficiaries (artists) is also discriminatory towards artists themselves. It puts all future recipients of exceptional pensions in a privileged position, not least because they will not have to pay the new tax or long-term care contribution on the exceptional allowances, which can be up to three times the amount of their actual pension. All pensioners (650,000 in total) will have to pay the new long-term care contribution, only recipients of exceptional pensions will not have to do so, as confirmed by the Minister of Culture, Asta Vrečko, in February this year.
Trade unions have expressed concerns about the new “pension reform”
If the Prime Minister had believed his own words, he would have set a vesting coefficient in the amendment to the pension law that has been proposed by the government, but he did not do so. The current amendment to the Pension and Disability Insurance Act actually worsens the situation, both for current and future pensioners. Černač: “And here, again, the Prime Minister is lying and misleading when he says that the pension reform (as he calls it) was supported by all the trade unions.” Černač confirmed this by showing a new video of trade unions expressing doubts about the usefulness of the reform. The broadcast of the video once again bothered Urška Klakočar Zupančič, but Černač saw it as confirmation that “the truth really hurts”. He also recalled that pension growth under the current government has been lower than inflation and the rise in basic consumer prices.
Hoivik: With the advent of the Freedom Movement came censorship
Černač also recalled other pressing problems in the country (the decline in economic growth, the poor use of European Union funds), and asked how long Golob planned to continue with his manipulations and lies, and what would happen to the pension reform, which is opposed by about half of the trade unions. Another SDS MP, Andrej Hoivik, spoke next: “I suggest that Golob now responds to our accusations. Today is World Book and Copyright Day, and the Freedom Movement MP Aleksander Prosen Kralj knows this very well. But it is clear that when the Freedom Movement came to power, it brought censorship with it. And today, both from Urška Klakočar Zupančič and from the two coalition MPs, it is clearly visible that after three years, this government has no ideas, no solutions, and will spend the next 11 months, especially now in the 18 days before the referendum, trying to silence critical voices, not of the opposition, but of the citizens, by any means necessary.”
Golob: We have adopted a historic law, we should be proud of our success!
Golob spoke next, and he started by first thanking the National Assembly for approving with a large majority the “key law” of the current government on Wednesday, which concerns the healthcare sector. Golob: “With this, our first priority has been realised. Today, you have clearly outlined what is allowed in the public healthcare system and what harmful practices will no longer be allowed.” These are harmful practices which, in his view, are directed towards the benefit of the individual instead of the patient. He believes that the National Assembly has passed a “historic law” and that they should be proud of their success. However, he considers Wednesday’s interpellation to be “mere political theatre”.
Golob believes that this government will get another term
Golob believes that the opposition MPs’ aim is to delay and block. He spent most of his speech criticising the opposition and praising himself. He also reiterated his belief that the current government will get another mandate. He spoke about the four pillars, which he said would put the welfare state first. The next speaker was an MP from the Deputy Group of Unaffiliated Deputies – Eva Irgl, who drew attention to the major problem of the ageing population in Slovenia and the European Union, which also affects pension funds and the well-being of the elderly. The proportion of people aged 65 and above is rising while the working age population is falling, putting additional pressure on the pension system. Irgl: “If there are too few people actively working, the system cannot work, at least not as well as we would like.”
The government’s new legislation raises a number of questions, she said. As they believe that the current government has not done enough for pensioners, the Democrats will support the motion for an interpellation. Hoivik, representing the SDS MPs, also spoke: “Golob has lied to more than 645,000 Slovenian pensioners. He lied to all of us. He lied that the pension reform by Janša had worsened the financial situation of the current pensioners, but in fact, the opposite is the case.”
“The 11th of May will be a day of resistance against Golob’s arrogance!”
“With the Golob reform, with your reform, the current government will indeed gradually lower the financial situation of pensioners, both present and future pensioners. From this summer onwards, all pensions will be taxed by one percentage point …” Hoivik believes that the government is making a fool of taxpayers and the economy. “The 11th of May will be a day of resistance against Golob’s arrogance, a day of rebellion against the censorship that the Speaker Urška Klakočar Zupančič wanted to impose.” The position of the New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi) parliamentary group was then presented by MP Janez Cigler Kralj: “This government will be remembered for two things: firstly, higher taxes, and secondly, for being a government that interfered with basic civil liberties, such as the disposal of private property.”
.@ZCernac: Potrebno je še povedati, da je danes predsednik @vladaRS Robert Golob izkazal izjemno nespoštovanje do upokojencev, ker se ni niti z besedo v svoji polurni dodatni obrazložitvi dotaknil teh njegovih laži, ki so bile dokazane. pic.twitter.com/6HwoupPEGL
— Poslanska skupina SDS (@PS_SDS) April 23, 2025
Cigler Kralj: As much as 664 euros less in the pocket of a net wage earner every year!
He also recalled the government’s position on tax changes, income tax legislation, etc. This is a government of higher taxes. He specifically referred to the Hospitality Act, which directly attacks the property owners who rent out their properties for tourism purposes. He also recalled the Media Act, which is aimed at undermining one of the fundamental freedoms – the right to freedom of speech. Additionally, he also recalled Golob’s repeal of a law which, if enforced, would have raised the net wages of all taxpayers significantly. On average, a net wage earner now has 664 euros less in his or her pocket per year, simply because of the repeal of the Income Tax Act, which was adopted in 2022. He also recalled the introduction of the compulsory healthcare contribution by the Golob government. And net salary will also be reduced by the long-term care contribution.
An attempt to introduce “Yugoslav” languages in schools
Cigler Kralj specifically highlighted the government’s attack on the sole proprietors with normalised expenses. This is a system that has worked well so far. However, every change made by the Golob government is a change for the worse. He also recalled the attempt by the energy lobby to ban wood burning (woody biomass), the attempt to introduce “Yugoslav” languages in schools and the attempt to introduce a property tax, which would hit rural areas particularly hard. The government is also failing to tackle the pressing Roma problem. It has also tried to ban firefighters’ festivals and to harm farmers through brutal inspections of livestock by ultra-leftist NGOs. It has also introduced a new calculation of the network charge, which has resulted in higher electricity bills. He also recalled the controversial purchase of the dilapidated building on Litijska Street and the inability to draw down EU funds, etc.
Černač: “Today, Prime Minister Golob showed extreme disrespect for pensioners by not saying a word in his explanation about his lies, which were proved by means of a presentation.”
Domen Mezeg
