“Please, tell me this is a joke,” was one of the very first reactions published on Twitter after the presumptive Prime Minister-designate, Robert Golob, and his coalition partners, Tanja Fajon and Luka Mesec, revealed 15 of the 19 names of the future ministers. Their picks from the presidents of the failed parties that did not get into the parliament, as they did not receive enough votes, are Marjan Šarec for the Ministry of Defence and Alenka Bratušek for the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The leaders of the future coalition parties, the Freedom Movement (Gibanje svoboda), the Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD) and the Left party (Levica), Robert Golob, Tanja Fajon, and Luka Mesec, coordinated the programme part of the coalition agreement in recent days and also assigned people to the ministerial positions. There will be three new ministries and, beware, one of these – the Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future, will be headed by the coordinator of the Left party, Mesec, while Fajon will take over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There will be 19 ministries in the new government and one minister without a portfolio. Three of the ministries will be new, namely, the Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future, the Ministry of Climate and Energy, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia Act will be submitted to the parliamentary procedure after Friday’s first session of the National Assembly.
The names of the people who did not manage to get into parliament with their parties – namely, Marjan Šarec and Alenka Bratušek – definitely caused quite a stir in the public, as Golob decided to “politically revive” them, despite their failure. This is the price he has to pay for the future merger of three parties into one and for their staff base. Only time will tell what the final result of this will be, but analysts are not exactly in favour of this move. Among the more controversial names on the list of future ministers are also Klemen Boštjančič, the gravedigger of our failed national airways company, Adria Airways, who will be the new Minister of Finance, Bojan Kumer, who will be the Minister of Climate and Energy, Matjaž Han, who only has a high school diploma, Dominika Švarc Pipan,…
And the rest of the candidates are also not really examples of the best staff that would inspire optimism for the regulation of key system areas – here is the list of names we know so far:
– Ministry of Climate and Energy: Bojan Kumer
– Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future: Luka Mesec
– Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation: Igor Papič
– Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs: Tanja Fajon
– Ministry of the Interior: Tatjana Bobnar
– Ministry of Defence: Marjan Šarec
– Ministry of Finance: Klemen Boštjančič
– Ministry of Infrastructure: Alenka Bratušek
– Ministry of Protection of Nature and the Environment: Uroš Brežan
– Ministry of Education and Upbringing: Amalija Žakelj
– Ministry of Justice: Dominika Švarc pipan
– Ministry of the Economy, Sport and Tourism: Matjaž Han
– Ministry of Public Administration and Self-Government: Sanja Ajanović Hovnik
– Ministry of Health: Danijel Bešič Loredan
– Ministry of National Minorities and Slovenians Abroad: Matej Arčon
The first responses to the list in question that we saw on Twitter already provided some interesting commentary. User Samo Vesel wrote: “What a shameful thing! This is the reanimation of political corpses, humiliating politicking, contentious division of the loot, and not a government! The triumph of a stuffy province, which is nowhere near being professional or cosmopolitan! Every new face is an even bigger disappointment than the previous one. Hold your wallets tight. And kick the kids out.” Another user wondered whether we can finally start calling these representatives zombies, as the future government team “literally revived some political corpses.”
Twitter user Johanca pointed out that it seems crazy that the political option that did not build a single home for the elderly in twelve years, and even fewer apartments, has now set up the Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future.
Meanwhile, Jaša Lorenčič wrote: “Can you imagine Matjaž Han’s face when he drew the Ministry of the Economy? And beside him, there was Milan M. Cvikl, who got the short end of it? This is the Social Democrats’ lottery expertise realised.”
Another user commented that she has a strong feeling that even the leftists are ashamed when hearing some of the names of the proposed candidates – and she believes that her feeling is correct.
“The appointment of Šarec as a candidate for the head of Ministry of Defence is probably the best news in Putin’s clipping today,” wrote the user B Križar, and Peter Hrastelj said that Luka Mesec is the one who gained the most from this situation, as he will practically do nothing at the Ministry for Solidary-Based Future and will never be blamed for anything. However, since Luka Mesec’s surname means “the moon” in Slovenian, another user wondered how it is possible that he was chosen for the position of minister of solidary-based future and asked whether they were perhaps referring to the solar future, with solar panels and everything that comes with it, but then added a question of what Mesec (the moon) would actually be doing there.
Janez Malavašič wrote: “Why does this forming of the government, the entry of Šarec and Bratušek into the ministerial group, remind me of a PARODY of a state? They are turning our country into a really bad reality show. And, unfortunately, a large part of Slovenian citizens once again participated in this and continues to participate. Another experiment, which, unfortunately, includes us in a supporting role, right?”
Communication expert Edvard Kadič pointed out that, since the Ministry of Culture is apparently in the jurisdiction of the Left party, there are at least two logical choices for the position of minister available: Jaša Jenull, the leader of the anti-government protests, or Marcel Štefančič, the now-former host of the leftist show Studio City whose contract recently ended and who is the latest martyr of the left. Kadič also added the hashtag “happy to help.”
TV show host Mirko Mayer wrote: “How low did we fall?! These do not even know the minimum of the political craft: they come to present the ministers, name 15 out of 20 names off the top of their heads, and out of these, Golob has not even filled his quota yet.”
One user found the newly created Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future to be a hilarious idea, while another wondered how it is possible that the former head of the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia, Karl Erjavec, is not part of the ministerial team, as he was infamous as being a minister in lots of governments.
And Mitja Iršič, a public relations consultant of the current government, wrote the following tweet: “Admit that no matter who you voted for, it made you a little uneasy to hear that the defence of our country, in the midst of the coming fascist invasion of the free world, will be led by this unfortunate soul,” to which he added a clip of Marjan Šarec talking in broken English.
Peter Truden
