“Our country does not need to be normalised because Slovenia is already a normal country. However, it would be good to normalise the thinking of those who continue to believe that only a certain part of the population is called to lead this country,” the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Anže Logar, said at the extraordinary session of the National Assembly. He also assessed, among other things, that future Prime Minister Robert Golob was not very fortunate in some of his ministerial choices.
“Dear future Prime Minister, I do not think I will surprise you by noting that you were not all that fortunate in some of your choices for ministerial candidates. But apparently, being fast was more important to you,” is what Dr Anže Logar said to Robert Golob at the extraordinary session of the National Assembly. Logar was, among other things, also critical of the coordinator of the Left party (Levica), Luka Mesec, who will be dealing with a solidarity-based future in the new government. “Solidarity based future and self-management of companies, as well as the construction of housing, will be handled by someone who does not have a single day of experience in the private sector and who is known in this field for his statement that the exporters are the Achilles heel of our economy,” Logar said. He went on to point out that the economic sector will be handled by the co-owner of a company, who said that there will be no cap on social contributions during this government’s term because we are caught in ideological interpretations when it comes to this topic, and because the term is way too politicised. With this, Logar was, of course, referring to the new government’s Minister of the Economy, Matjaž Han.
Logar was also critical of Emilia Stojmenova Duh, noting that the candidate for Minister of Digital Transformation came to the hearing on digitalisation with a fifteen-centimetre-thick paper folder. He then also noted that the confirmed candidate for the Minister of the Interior, Tanja Bobnar, said that the basic function of the Police is to make people happy. “Robert Golob said at the second extraordinary session of the National Assembly that they will further develop the virtues of the individual, so that everyone will be able to do what they do best, because that is how a person can contribute the most to society. In these circumstances, do you really believe that Marjan Šarec is the person who can give the most to Slovenia?” he critically wondered about Marjan Šarec, the future Minister of Defence, who spoke about the use of guerrilla tactics at a hearing before the competent parliamentary committee. In light of the war in Ukraine and new security threats, and in the current situation that requires investments in defence at the level of more than two percent, Logar openly doubted that Šarec was “the right calibre for a minister.”
“All the candidates for ministers said at the hearings that they would specifically try to listen to civil society. The civil society, which is being financed by the government of the Republic of Slovenia and was not directly elected at the elections,” Logar pointed out, noting that this means that there will be no critical scrutiny of civil society but that it will primarily be a matter of realising the highlighted wishes of the supporters of this government. “Or, as it now seems to me – it is time to pay back what you owe them,” Logar pointed out. He also wondered about those who work with their own two hands – farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs, engineers – why did the candidates for ministerial positions not highlight those who grow our food, provide jobs and that added value that Golob likes to talk about so often? “Do they have a person they could talk to in the current government?” the former Minister of Foreign Affairs asked, concluding that apparently, the only mirror for this government, the only critical advocate of equal criteria for all and common sense, will be the opposition, sitting in the national assembly today.
“The media adores the new government. We will once again be able to follow the honeymoon period in the media, which might even last for years. Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts. And without media control, the path to absoluteness is much shorter,” Logar pointed out. He then concluded that the advantage of measurable goals is that they will be able to compare all indicators at the end of Golob’s term. “If they stay at the level they are at today, in addition to the media praise, you will also hear praise from us at the end of your term,” he promised.
Sara Kovač
