“Calling on people to boycott this fundamental constitutional right is vile. What about next time, will they ban the elections or the referendum?” President of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), Janez Janša, pointed out in a recent episode of the show 24ur Zvečer, saying that the vote in this referendum will count doubly. “Firstly, against unjustified privileges for the select few, and secondly, to shorten the mandate of this harmful government.”
Responding to the Prime Minister’s accusations that the government’s interpellation was a waste of time and mere political theatre, Janez Janša explained that in a parliamentary democracy, an interpellation is intended to be a debate on an important topic. “After the debate, a motion for a constructive vote of no confidence can be tabled or, if it is an interpellation of a minister, a motion for the replacement of the minister, or even a substantive decision,” he explained.
Regarding the matter at hand, he explained that it was more than just a vote. “The Prime Minister has said a nasty lie. He said that the pension law, which we unanimously adopted and coordinated with all the social partners in 2012, had worsened the situation of pensioners,” he pointed out, adding that the law in question had, in fact, stopped pensions from falling. “If someone who is in charge of the executive power in the country does not even know what the chain is like, what has been happening in the adoption or regulation of pension issues throughout recent history, and is now preparing some pension reform, then one has to wonder whether these people are capable of doing the job and what they are going to come up with now.”
The question of pensions is an important one
Janša recalled that the Prime Minister had been given the opportunity to apologise after being misleading with his statements – but he had not done so. This lie, Janša said, is being repeated today. “He doesn’t repeat it, though, because he didn’t even touch the subject.” Most of the time available for the debate was used up by the coalition MPs. “If they think this is a waste of time, then they shouldn’t debate,” the SDS President said, denying accusations that the interpellation was just a way to buy time for the election campaign for a referendum on the pension supplement for outstanding achievements in the arts. “The parliament is not just about a vote, the parliament is a place where important things are discussed and things are clarified,” Janša pointed out, adding that this was an important issue. “This is an issue of pensions, which concerns more than 650 thousand of our citizens,” he pointed out, adding that the government had announced a change in pension legislation, which would lead to less favourable conditions for retirement in the future.
As for the Prime Minister’s insistence that the money for the referendum is being wasted for political purposes, because it will cost us 6.7 million euros, and that it “is intended to prevent perhaps all of four artists from getting an extraordinary pension,” which would amount to 60,000 euros a year, Janša stressed that this is another big lie. “They have spent eight million euros on a dilapidated building on Litijska Street, and six million euros on 13 thousand old computers, part of which are still stored in some warehouses. They are wasting tens of millions of euros on things that those of us who pay taxes and contributions have nothing to gain from. Most of the money that will be spent on the referendum, however, is going to be used as compensation for those who will work in the electoral committees,” he explained, adding that in this case, we are not talking about the richest people in the country.
The allowances will bring about higher costs
Janša explained that the cost of the allowances will, in fact, be higher than what Golob said. “What is now being proposed in this law is not a cost of six thousand euros. This is only the amount for one person who receives the Prešeren Prize for a one-off creation, a painting, or a performance where they are breastfeeding a dog, for example. If an artist gets a lifetime achievement award, he or she gets 30 thousand euros; for a one-off achievement, the award is 10 thousand euros, but then he or she will also get a 1,500 to 2,000-euro pension supplement every month,” he said, adding that this adds up to half a million euros over 20 or 30 years. “That’s the amount of half of the Nobel Prize for one painting – even if it were a good painting, this is too much,” he pointed out, adding that while we have tens of thousands of people who have been working voluntarily in Slovenian culture all their lives, conducting choirs, leading music schools, helping sustain the national identity, these people will never get anything in return.
Janša also mentioned that, under the law that brought the Golob government to power, the decisions on the awards would be made by a committee headed by a lady who had stood as a candidate for the coalition Left party (Levica) in the elections. According to Janša, this committee is made up of people “most of whom are a disgrace to Slovenian culture”. “They will politically distribute the prizes to those who represent their political base.” In the case of former Culture Minister Simoniti, Janša explained that at the time, it was not he who decided on the prizes, but the government. “Now, they will hide behind experts who are completely politicised.” According to Janša, Minister Simoniti did not award bonuses for one-off things, because the awards were mainly given to people for their lifetime’s work in the field of culture. “That said, I am in favour of abolishing that, too.”
A vote in the referendum will count doubly
When asked whether the SDS party wanted to accumulate votes from pensioners by holding a referendum before the elections, because in the case of privileged pensions, we are talking about a small number of people, Janša explained that it is not a small number of people at all. To this, the host of the show replied that 83 people were supposed to receive such pensions, to which Janša added that it should be borne in mind that new pensions would be granted every year. He expressed his conviction that he did not think it was fair that the other 649,900 pensioners would not get anything, even though many of them had contributed more. Asked why this referendum was a referendum on the Golob government, Janša explained that this was because the government itself had proposed this law and was now calling for a boycott of the referendum. “This is questionable in itself, because in Slovenia, according to the Constitution, the people have the power, and this power is exercised by the people – first directly, and then indirectly through elections.” “Calling on people to boycott this fundamental constitutional right is vile. What about next time, will they ban the elections or the referendum?” he was critical. He also explained that they want to shorten the mandate of this harmful government with this referendum.
“Anyone who votes against in the referendum will contribute to ending this situation that we have now – with which at least two-thirds of the people are not satisfied – as soon as possible,” Janša stressed, recalling that the referendum is a constitutional instrument and that those who used to be in the opposition had proposed 12 referendums. However, these same people are saying that now, it is a circus and a waste of money to organise a referendum. “A vote in this referendum will count doubly. Firstly, against unjustified privileges for the select few, and secondly, to shorten the mandate of this harmful government,” he explained.
It’s easier to go to prison for a year or two
The interlocutors also discussed Janša’s recent acquittal in the Trenta case. Janša was asked whether he still considers the Slovenian judiciary to be a crooked judiciary. “Mr Slak, if you would be required to continuously go to court for 15 years – for interrogations, for hearings, if you were to be brought from one prison, where you were held because of another unjust verdict, to a Ljubljana court four days before the elections, as I was in 2014, in order to be served with an order for a judicial investigation, and then this saga were to continue for another 12 years…, would you, after 15 years of persecution and suffering, say that this is a judiciary that is working?” Janša pointed out, adding that it is easier to go to prison for a year or two than to endure what has happened to him in this process. According to Janša, if the judiciary were functioning, there would have been no judicial investigation, and the indictment would not have been confirmed.
Predsednik SDS @JJansaSDS: Če bi slovensko sodstvo delovalo, tega procesa sploh ne bi bilo. pic.twitter.com/7GWIKE0fvV
— SDS (@strankaSDS) April 23, 2025
People can protest peacefully, this is not undue pressure
When asked whether he does not think that his supporters’ protests crossed a line with their pressuring, Janša replied that those who had been violating the Constitution and the law for 15 years and insulting logic and normal human sense in this process were the ones who were crossing the line. He said it was clear from the beginning that if someone buys something and then sells it at a higher price, this is not a crime. “Otherwise, probably half of Slovenia would be involved in criminal proceedings,” he said, adding that people can peacefully protest and say whatever they want to state institutions, as this fundamental right is guaranteed by the Slovenian Constitution. “This is not undue pressure. What is intolerable is that those who should respect the law and the Constitution do not do so, but instead use it to fight with their political opponents. The parliament is intended for political fights, not the courts,” he stressed.
It is just the tip of the iceberg
Janša described the recent Karigador affair, in which the Prime Minister got caught holidaying for free in accommodation owned by businessman Tomaž Subotič, whom Golob later appointed to important positions in healthcare institutions, as the tip of the iceberg. This, Janša said, is the way those who believe that the state is theirs to own, not to manage, operate. He recalled that the Prime Minister had repeatedly mentioned that his greatest merit and all he had to do was to defeat the “Janšaists” – supporters of Janez Janša, who had to be purged from all structures. “He thinks that this is a blank cheque, that he can do anything,” Janša pointed out, adding that most of Golob’s MPs, especially the female MPs who are losing their nerve today, are also convinced of the same immaculate conception.
.@JJansaSDS o zadnjih aferah predsednika vlade: Gre le za vrh ledene gore! pic.twitter.com/sabTvnR1U5
— SDS (@strankaSDS) April 23, 2025
Asked whether the Prime Minister should resign or wait for the opinion of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK), Janša stressed that he himself does not have a good opinion of the KPK as an institution. “It has often acted in a way that was opportune for the left-wing political option. If it had wanted to act here as the law dictates, it would have already issued this opinion,” Janša said, adding that it is clear that this is contrary to what the Integrity Act says. He stressed that Golob and his government could be accused of things that are a thousand times worse. He added that, of course, this matter is not trivial, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.
He expects early elections
Janša expects early elections. However, he said, the result of this referendum will contribute to the decision on whether or not we will go to early elections in the autumn. “The people from the background that created this government will come to a simple calculation and the realisation that the result for the political left in Slovenia will be better if these elections are held earlier than if this poor government lasts until the end of the mandate,” he pointed out. When asked whether Vladimir Prebilič will manage to get a good result to prevent them from forming a government, Janša replied that in this case, Slovenians can expect a similar outcome to the one they have been seeing for the last three years under Golob. This would once again create a new instant party, with people coming from all directions.
“At the moment, only the SDS party has both the personnel and the substantive potential from experience to form a serious government and manage the country as it should be managed.” He believes that they want Prebilič in the game, so that most of the votes that the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) currently has spill over to him. As for Logar, he said that he is doing what Virant did, namely – damage. They themselves have nothing against competition, especially if it is good. “If the Slovenian voters want to risk it again, they can do so. They are always right,” he concluded.
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