At the 13th Congress of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), the members of the party approved a new mandate at the helm of SDS for Janez Janša. He received 98.5 percent support from the party delegates. The Congress was held under the slogan “For a constitutional majority of reason”. The Congress also elected members of the party’s Executive and Supervisory Committees. The Party’s Council will also appoint the Party’s Vice-President, as proposed by the President of the SDS.
“The Slovenian Democratic Party will continue to fight, just like it has so far. This fight is continuous, so that Slovenia can become a place of justice, a home in which every Slovenian and citizen feels safe and accepted, and we will fight for those who work well and manage well to come to the forefront of social attention. Unlike those who send Slovenian entrepreneurs to Croatia,” Janša told the members gathered at the Congress.
On the basis of its programme, the SDS party will build a “relaxed” Slovenia, not based on regulations, but on common sense and healthy competition and responsibility.
Janša described Golob’s mandate as the time of “humiliation” of Slovenia. “We all know that Slovenia deserves more, much more, and we all know that Slovenia can do more,” he said, adding that “The fight for the cause, for Pučnik’s cause, for the homeland, for Slovenia, which is the homeland of all, does not end with one generation. It goes from generation to generation. It is permanent, just as Slovenia is permanent. We are not defending the past; we are building the future. The left is defending its own fabricated history; however, we are not dealing with that. We are making history. They have had their time, and they have done a lot of damage. But now, our day is coming. Dawn is coming. Yellow sun and blue sky. There is no night that the morning cannot overcome.”
“The SDS has so far made a sacrifice twice and, together with its partners, selflessly saved Slovenia in times of economic crisis and the pandemic. As a sign of gratitude, we have been persecuted, condemned, imprisoned, and dolls with our faces have been burned and hung; we have had our mandates stolen, people called for our deaths, and for our electorate to be purged. So, we do not want any of this ever again,” he noted.
He then pointed out that the SDS party was not excluding any political party this time either, but he highlighted two conditions for any party that might want to form a coalition with SDS. The first condition is strict respect for the Slovenian constitution. The second condition is respect for the commitments set out in the European Parliament resolution on the condemnation of all totalitarian regimes.
“SDS is a solid, strong and resilient party, built for the lifetime of the Slovenian state. And the latter is a project of centuries and therefore durable,” Janša said in his speech.
Later, Janša also highlighted the difference between SDS and the transitional left. The SDS party advocates a state where progress is based on meritocracy, a lean state, and lower taxes for all citizens.
He described another term in office for the current government as a “natural disaster”.
Address by foreign statesmen
The SDS Congress was then addressed by former Canadian Prime Minister and President of the International Democratic Union (IDU), Stephen Harper, via video call. “In his message, he stressed the importance of cooperation between democratic parties around the world and expressed his support for our work in the pursuit of a free, secure and prosperous Slovenia,” the SDS party wrote.
The gathering was also addressed by the President of the European People’s Party – EPP, Manfred Weber, and by Andrés Pastrana Arango, former President of Colombia and Honorary President of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI).
In addition to the SDS party leader, the party’s vice-presidents, Members of the European Parliament, and other prominent individuals, the Congress was also attended by several guests, including lawyer Franci Matoz and former Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, who is not a member of the party but is a member of its Strategic Council. The latter expected to hear at the Congress what needs to be done to make Slovenia “normal again”. All the main indicators, he says, are weakening – productivity, gross domestic product, and industrial production are falling – and something needs to change. Above all, he added, there is a bad state of mind in Slovenia, “according to which, on the one hand, work is dishonourable and profit is a disgrace.” Asked about his political reactivation, he said: “Everything goes step by step. First we have to get to the point where something is possible, and then we will work as we did before.”
15 resolutions discussed
The SDS delegates discussed the party programme and 15 resolutions – 14 sectoral and one umbrella resolution. According to the SDS party, all the resolutions follow the objective of the flagship resolution.
“The hijacked state is holding back our development potential. It is creating a society of inequality and privilege for the select few. (…) It will take a lot of hard work to take back the hijacked state. In some places, classical reforms will not be enough; the structure will have to be rebuilt,” the draft resolution reads.
The SDS party believes that the Slovenian constitutional order will need to be amended in the future, in response to changes in our surroundings and in response to the policies of the “deluded left”.
The resolution states that we need to protect freedom of speech, the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, gender as a natural category (there are only two sexes), democracy as the rule of the elected, the electoral process against foreign influence and illegal funding, the financial autonomy of municipalities, and the right to protection of privacy and dignity, including the right to the grave.
The SDS party stated that they are a political force that does not act in an exclusionary manner. “Our fundamental commitment ahead of the next elections is that the values of Slovenian independence and its objectives, which SDS has co-created, will continue to be the foundation and source of all our actions,” they noted.
The delegates approved the programme, as well as all the resolutions (in a package).
Alarming situation in the country
The SDS believes that the political situation in the country is alarming, as confirmed by all indicators. SDS is trustworthy and ready to take responsibility for the governance of the country, they stressed.
“Janez Janša has proved with his work that he can easily serve another term as the Prime Minister. He is physically, mentally and politically one of the most stable politicians in Slovenia, and that is why the will was expressed among the membership for him to be the only candidate for the presidency, which is also likely to be confirmed today,” said SDS MP Tomaž Lisec before the start of the Congress. He expected that today, they will also prove with their programme that they are currently the strongest party on the ground in Slovenia. “We are not changing our programme for the sake of the people, our programme has been clear for the last 30 years,” he added, stressing that they are not like new parties “which practically promise you heaven on earth” and then “become a kind of puddle of various games played by various new political faces.” The SDS rhetoric is simple – tell the people the truth, even if “it hurts sometimes”. The Congress, he said, is also the first start of preparations for the parliamentary elections, which are urgently needed. He hopes that “people will take hold of their wallets and realise that the previous Janša government was much more favourable to them.”
Franc Kangler, the former mayor of Maribor and now a member of the SDS party, said that the situation in the country does not need further comment, because “every slightly rational person can see that the country has never been so low and so shallow.” He expected a positive message at the Congress that SDS is trustworthy and ready to take responsibility for the future of the Slovenian state. He himself remains politically active and intends to stand as a parliamentary candidate in the parliamentary elections.
Our television team was also present in Ormož, at the Congress. You can follow what happened at the Congress on your television or online – on the Nova24TV YouTube channel.
Ž. K.
