From the very beginning of her relationship with Prime Minister Robert Golob, Tina Gaber has been actively involved in politics. Many have even accused the latter of interfering in government affairs and attributed to her the reason for the dismissal of different ministers. However, she seems to feel very much at home in the government, as she could recently be seen using the government car park.
One of the videos that was recently published online reveals that Tina Gaber is using a government car park that is actually supposed to be used only by government representatives. According to some information, the latter has been using the government car park for quite some time now.
Last September, during a post-flood visit to the Koroška region, Gaber inadvertently revealed in a video that she drives a Volvo XC90, according to Cosmopolitan. At the time, many people wondered how it was possible that Gaber was appearing on official government visits. Indeed, at the time, Matej Grah, the President of the Freedom Movement Youth (Gibanje Svoboda Mladi), the youth wing of the main coalition party – the Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda), wrote on Instagram, under a photo of young members of the party with Gaber, that “Tina Gaber is on a field visit to Koroška,” and added: “We visited the Training, Work and Care Centre in Črna na Koroškem and the Home for the Elderly in Fara in the municipality of Prevalje, strengthening intergenerational solidarity.” Gaber’s case is undoubtedly a political precedent, as it is not at all clear who or what the Prime Minister’s partner is supposed to represent within the Freedom Movement party and the government.
In addition, Gaber has previously even participated in meetings with government officials. She was present at the meeting of the State Secretary for the Establishment of Dialogue with Civil Society and Coordination of Citizens’ Initiatives, Maksimiljana Polak, with the Association for the Protection and Assistance of Animals in Need, Lajka, and other representatives of animal advocacy associations. There was also a lot of talk about her influence on the drafting of the amendment to the Animal Protection Act, which was tabled in the parliamentary procedure by MPs from coalition groups, with Meira Hot from the Social Democrats party (Socialni demokrati – SD) as the first signatory.
During a PR interview on the commercial television station POP TV, a video clip was shown in which Gaber was asking Golob what they would do to make Slovenia better for animals. To that, Golob responded: “First of all, I would like to thank the Animal Group, where you have really done a lot of work over the past weeks, where you have reconciled the comments of various interest groups, and today, we have a really very good compromise on the table, with which we can go forward to the legislative procedure.” Given that the Prime Minister used the word “you”, it was logical to assume that Gaber was also involved in the work on the legislative proposal.
It is also important to note here that when the Minister of Agriculture, Irena Šinko, was unexpectedly replaced, many insiders warned that it was due to her disobedience of the Prime Minister and some of Golob’s associates. Namely, Šinko was said to have a different view on animal protection than a large part of the coalition, which also contradicts Gaber’s view. Gaber and Šinko also had a disagreement over nutria. There was also a disagreement between Golob and the former Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, Uroš Brežan, over the Prime Minister’s request to halt the culling of bears. As no Prime Minister has ever gotten involved in the culling of beasts so directly, many suspected that the Prime Minister’s partner, who is said to be a vegan and a great animal lover, was also behind this request.
During the term of the Golob government, it seems to many people, not least on account of the above, that we have gained an additional member of the government in the form of Golob’s new partner. As we wanted to know if the information that she had parked in the government car park on several occasions was true, we decided to ask the government about it. When we receive a reply, we will, of course, publish it.
S. K.
