The glory of the Speaker of the National Assembly is more than clearly fading. Our reliable source confirms the findings presented in the latest episode of the show Tarča (Target) – namely that Urška Klakočar Zupančič is enjoying less and less support in her party, as well as less media attention. It was said that she has been put on the sidelines, mainly thanks to her own instability. The information we received in our inbox, however, is evidence of something else. While Slovenia is sinking deeper and deeper into recession, the “liberals” are becoming more and more involved in their own internal intrigues – and thus less and less capable of running the country in an operational way.
Lay observers of Slovenian politics learned about the waning political capital of Klakočar Zupančič in the latest episode of the show Tarča. The official reason why the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) cancelled Klakočar Zupančič’s appearance on the show Tarča was her supposed health problems. Our source claims that the excuse is not to be believed. Klakočar Zupančič had confirmed her participation but was then forbidden to actually appear on the show by the party, because they allegedly found out that Jelka Godec, the leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) parliamentary group, would also be appearing at Tarča. The party was also bothered by the fact that the confirmation of the appearance was not coordinated and was therefore a kind of disciplining of the MP. The fact that the cancellation was not related to the health of the Speaker of the National Assembly was also confirmed in her own way by MP Vonta, who replaced the party’s Vice-President at the last minute. She did not, of course, want to reveal the real reason for Klakočar Zupančič’s absence.
The real reason, as revealed by our source, is that the day before the filming of Tarča was extremely busy for Klakočar Zupančič. So much so that she reportedly experienced a kind of nervous breakdown, stemming from the events at the meeting of the Commission for Public Office and Elections of the National Assembly, the meeting of the leaders of the parliamentary groups, and later on, the clash within the party. The latter is said to have happened between the party’s Secretary-General, Vesna Vuković, and Klakočar Zupančič herself. The conflict between the two has been repeatedly reported on in the media in the past. The conflict is said to have arisen over Vuković’s demand that all MPs hand over their mobile phones for personal inspection, as she was convinced that one of them was leaking sensitive party information to the media.
As already mentioned, it all started at the Commission for Public Office and Elections, and then continued at the working consultation of the parliamentary parties, where the head of the Legislative and Legal Service allegedly attacked the Speaker of the National Assembly “harshly and directly,” but supported by arguments. The subject of the heated debate was the opinion of the Legislative and Legal Service that the action of the Commission for Public Office and Elections, when it took note of the court judgments and the proposals for dismissal of the members of the RTV Programme Council, was highly controversial and inadmissible, and, above all, contrary to the constitutional legal order of the Republic of Slovenia. At one point in the debate, the head of the Service even reportedly said, “You were a judge, and you should have known that.” Klakočar Zupančič then reportedly called on coalition MPs to help her in the debate, but there was no particular interest in doing so.
The following information may explain why. Klakočar Zupančič is said to have discussed at the consultation the idea that the entire National Assembly (i.e. the coalition and the opposition together) should show the executive that real power rests with the National Assembly and that it is not just a “voting machine”. This is, of course, a rebellion against the Prime Minister, in which others have clearly refused to take part.
Outside the circle of trust
Our reliable source has also provided us with another highly significant piece of information. The Vice-President of the party and Speaker of the National Assembly was reportedly unaware of the resignation of two MPs from the party, namely Dejan Zavec and Martin Marzidovšek, which happened recently.
Well, all of this supposedly led to some sort of a collapse. Those who have been in the cabinet next to her throughout the saga know what kind of collapse. The public, who had no access to the cabinet, heard only echoes. Among other things, that
Klakočar Zupančič was extremely mad at the SDS party’s head of the parliamentary group. Allegedly, she intends to “get back at her” in the future.
Sara Kovač
