The Minister of Justice, Marjan Dikaučič, successfully passed the vote of no confidence, which was filed against him by the opposition LMŠ, SD, Levica and SAB parties, and the independent MPs. Namely, 42 MPs voted in favour of the vote of no confidence, while 28 voted against it. In order for the vote to succeed, 46 MPs would have had to support it, which means that Dikaučič remains in the ministerial position. “Congratulations to Minister Marjan Dikaučič for surviving the vote of no confidence. The opposition is attacking us with all available means but without any sound arguments. But they forget that this only strengthens us further and connects us even more!” the SMC party wrote on Twitter, celebrating Dikaučič’s success.
The expectation of the proponents of the vote of no confidence against the Minister of Justice Marjan Dikaučič – that they will also get other deputies of the National Assembly on their side, not just the ones who proposed the vote, turned out to be wrong. With 42 votes, they collected the exact same number of votes as with the no-confidence vote against Minister of Education Simona Kustec.
However, before the vote, the Levica party announced that its parliamentary group would propose for the vote to be postponed due to two infections of their MPs with the novel coronavirus. After consulting with the leaders of the parliamentary groups, the Speaker of the National Assembly Igor Zorčič decided not to postpone the vote. Before making the decision, he also said that the question arises as to whether it is even possible to ensure that the two missing MPs could vote on Thursday. It is now clear that despite the fact that they did not participate and vote in this matter, the interpellation would not have turned out any differently, as the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition ran out of as many as four votes this time.
Ministers Aleš Hojs and Minister Andrej Vizjak are next in line for the vote of no confidence.
Below, we are publishing some of the responses to the no-confidence vote from Twitter.
Minister of Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, wrote: “There is a clear lack of content and creativity when it comes to the vote of no confidence, as the opposition merely cites inaccuracies for its allegations. The interpellation did not touch on the Minister’s work and is unfounded. The SMC party’s team will continue to do good work.”
SDS MP Jure Ferjan wrote: “Following the unsuccessful no-confidence vote against Minister of Education Simona Kustec, the interpellation concerning the work and responsibility of Minister of Justice Marjan Dikaučič just failed. The current Government of the Republic of Slovenia continues to work for greater prosperity and development of Slovenia, while the Constitutional Arch Coalition will likely continue to try and tear it down.”
SDS MP Dejan Kaloh wrote: “As I predicted: another nonsensical interpellation that ended poorly. The Constitutional Arch Coalition only managed to get 42 votes, and support for the LMŠ party fell by an additional percent or two. To Minister Dikaučič, I wish you continued success in your work.
And Davorin Kopše, a member of the SDS party, wrote: “The no-confidence vote was intended to remove the minister, but the Constitutional Arch Coalition experts will instead apparently crush themselves. Music to my ears.”
Sara Kovač
