“We have collected 157,138 correctly authenticated signatures at the Administrative Units,” President of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), Janez Janša, solemnly announced, adding that this is the biggest show of support for democracy we have ever seen.
Slovenian Democratic Party, the initiator of three referendums, has achieved something many doubted was even possible. The party has managed to collect the highest number of signatures for a referendum so far – namely, 157,138, as announced by the President of the party, Janez Janša, who also thanked all those who contributed their signatures and helped achieve such a great result.
People contributed 52,182 signatures against the abolition of long-term care, 52,280 signatures against even more bureaucracy, and 52,669 signatures against the politicisation of the national media outlet, Radio-Television Slovenia (RTV). To call the referendum, 40 thousand signatures had to be collected by Wednesday, the 5th of October, for each of the laws adopted by the ruling coalition.
The National Assembly has not yet called a referendum day because the ruling party is trying to avoid the option of scheduling the referendums on the same day as the presidential or local elections, even though this would waste less money and ensure the necessary legitimacy. The fear of a high turnout and having to listen to the will of the people is high, so Golob’s coalition will do everything in its power to adopt the laws as soon as possible.
Sara Kovač
