“On the right side of the political spectrum, matters are much more transparent. In case a centre-right coalition is formed, similar to the one we have right now, which has happened three times so far, under the leadership of Prime Minister Janez Janša, it is clear who will be leading the government. In such governments, the Prime Minister is the person who plays the main role in decision-making, while under left-wing governments, this is not the case. Few believe that Šarec or Bratušek were actually the ones making the decisions during their respective terms. They were more like a type of “business commissioners,” who merely announced the decisions that were actually made by others,” said political analyst Matevž Tomšič, when explaining the reason for the soundness of the Janša governments, and the instability of the left-wing ones.
We talked with political analyst Matevž Tomšič about why Janša’s governments represent political soundness and strength, while the left-wing governments represent political instability. Let us remind you that this is the second time that Janša’s term will have come to a natural end, meaning, it will end with the regular elections, while in the case of several left-wing governments, we have witnessed their terms ending prematurely, in early elections (namely, this happened under former Prime Ministers Borut Pahor, Alenka Bratušek, Miro Cerar; it almost happened with Marjan Šarec, but then Janša managed to form a government, and Zoran Janković did not even manage to form a government). Tomšič: “On the right side of the political spectrum, matters are much more transparent. In case a centre-right coalition is formed, similar to the one we have right now, which has happened three times so far, under the leadership of Prime Minister Janez Janša, it is clear who will be leading the government. In such governments, the Prime Minister is the person who plays the main role in decision-making, while under left-wing governments, this is not the case.”
Very few people believe that it was Šarec and Bratušek who actually made the decisions during their terms. According to Tomšič, they were more like “business commissioners,” who merely announced the decisions, which were actually made by others. In addition, it is obvious that Janša enjoyed a certain authority within each of the governments he has led so far. On the other hand, in the case of all of the aforementioned “new faces” of the political left, there was a clear lack of that. These were all parties that were more or less established in an “instant” kind of way, for the needs of one election, and were without a real party base, infrastructure, and everything else that a successful party needs to operate. And often, the party that was the largest in government did not really play a major role at all. As a result, such coalitions could not have been solid. And that is exactly why they fell apart before their terms even ended.
Let’s take a look at the previous government as an example: in order to be able to pass anything in the National Assembly, they had to come to an agreement with the Left party (Levica), which had a lot of impact in this game, despite the fact that it was not even officially part of this coalition. This is due in part to the fact that the Left, unlike the other parties of the left-wing political pole, has a clear agenda and a very clear profile, very clear goals. Thus, the Left party knew how to articulate its goals much more clearly than, for example, the List of Marjan Šarec, which was supposed to be the leading party of the coalition. During Šarec’s rule, his coalition colleagues often complained that he was “putting them in a tight spot.” In addition, Tomšič also believes that the left-wing governments, the coalition partners were actually putting each other in a tight spot.
Even under the new face of the leftists, Golob, relations would not be harmonious, as there would be a programme gap
And even if a new coalition formed under the leadership of the new face of the political left, Robert Golob, who would likely join forces with the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition (the left-wing parties of the current opposition), the relations would be anything but harmonious. We can already see this now – that the only thing they all agree on is that they want to replace Janša’s government. They will find it difficult to find consensus on anything else, and a potential Golob government would be no more stable than the previous left-wing governments were. The fact is that “instability” is already caused by the lack of political programme of Golob’s party – the Freedom Movement. Part of the electorate is willing to vote for anyone who could replace the current prime minister, but when these people finally come to power, the realisation emerges that they actually have no clear agenda, and as a result, support for such a government falls very quickly.
Domen Mezeg
