What is written in the title is actually true because you can use a roll of toilet paper for quite some time, you know, in the smallest room in the house, “to which even the emperor goes on foot,” as they used to say. The Constitutional Arch Coalition’s (Koalicija ustavnega loka – referred to as KUL, which consists of the SD, LMŠ, Levica and SAB parties) supposedly already coordinated and soon-to-be-signed agreement on post-election cooperation, however, is even useless for something like that, for at least two reasons. Firstly, because it is written on a sheet or several sheets of paper that are too rough to be useful in the same manner as toilet paper, and secondly, because whatever will be written in it, will be impossible to realise, as the signatories are not capable of actually implementing any plans. Namely, the same people and parties that will sign the agreement already worked together in the 2018 post-election period in the government of Marjan Šarec, where they fought and eventually gave up, so it is quite clear that we cannot trust them even now.
And besides, signing a pre-election agreement on cooperation and the formation of a government in the post-election period in a proportional representation electoral system is pure nonsense and not an actual serious intention. Namely, in a country with a proportional representation electoral system, many political parties get into parliament, and smart political parties wait until after elections to form a government instead of excluding anyone as early as before the next elections. Forming pre-election alliances is more typical of majoritarian electoral systems, where, as a rule, there are two large political parties and two or three smaller political parties in parliament. In such circumstances, when it is clear that neither of the major political parties will be able to form a government on their own, the pre-election alliances make sense, as voters know exactly what will happen at the end of election day – which alliance will form a government.
But in Slovenia, things are very different. The name of the parties that signed the agreement alone is unusual and does match with reality. The Constitutional Arch Coalition usually means a coalition of parties from the left and the right part of the political spectrum (constitution), but in our country, the group only consists of extreme and even more extreme leftists. This does not work, ordinary people would say.
In any case, the pre-election, and even more so the post-election coalitions, are formed on the basis of the programmes of individual political parties. This is not the case here either. The comedian from Kamnik, who is even our former Prime Minister, Marjan Šarec, who gave up on leading the country and ran away from his responsibilities in January 2020, proposed the creation of a pre-election agreement on cooperation after the 2022 elections, less than two months ago. And mind you, he invited the same political parties to join him and sign the agreement that were part of his government – the parties that he himself said were impossible to cooperate with. Of course, he conveniently forgot to explain how it would be possible for them to cooperate now. He also did not propose a work programme for the period after the elections. However, he did propose (to summarise): a normalisation of Slovenia, a formation of a government without the parties that make up or support the current government, in which the prime minister-designate will be determined by the party that receives the most votes in the elections.
The agreement, which is supposed to be signed soon, is therefore not an agreement for the formation of a new governing majority, but rather an agreement against the SDS, NSi, SMC, DeSUS and SNS parties, and the two representatives of national minorities. At the same time, however, the Constitutional Arch Coalition parties are talking about the normalisation of Slovenia, the unification and reconnecting of a supposedly divided nation. They want to connect people with separation and exclusion, and Tanja Fajon can already see herself at the forefront of such changes. This is absolutely incredible. Apparently, nobody has told her yet that she is not the right “material” for something like that.
But, just hypothetically, let us imagine the post-election period in which these people would be forming the new government. These are the same political parties from the previous government, and – with the exception of Tanja Fajon, who replaced Dejan Židan, the same presidents of the parties too. Why would these same people get along just fine and be able to successfully lead Slovenia in 2022 if in 2019 they fought, gave up on their government, and ran away from responsibility? In a government made up of these parties, the Levica party (the Left) will no longer be able to act as a supra-coalition party but would realistically have to be part of the government. Imagine Levica’s MP Miha Kordiš, as Minister of Defence, who will advocate the withdrawal from NATO at home and in Europe, along with the abolition of the Slovenian Army and the nationalisation of all apartments and houses that cannot be vacuumed in 15 minutes. Imagine the coordinator of the Levica party, Luka Mesec, in the role of Minister of the Economy, who will demand the confiscation of private property – similar to the one that happened in 1945 – and Slovenia’s exit from the European Union and the eurozone. Or imagine Violeta Tomić, another MP of the Levica party, in the role of Minister of Culture, who will take money from those who work hard and distribute it to the non-governmental organisations which usually do not create anything, and so on.
And Tanja Fajon wants to be the leader of all of this – who will only manage to be appalled at all times. She has not yet shared how she plans to manage such a coalition for a little more than 3,000 euros a month, instead of around 13,000 monthly Brussels euros that she is used. And let’s not forget that such a government under the leadership of the always worried Fajon would also have two former prime ministers in it – Alenka Bratušek and Marjan Šarec.
But the factory newsletter of the Levica party, called Mladina (Youth), wrote that “all of this is necessary due to the exceptional circumstances, meaning, due to the government led by Janez Janša.” I do not read Mladina, but somebody told me about this particular sentence. And I have to agree with Mladina this time. What they wrote is true – the fact that the government is being led by Janez Janša is an exceptional circumstance that they refuse to recognise, and the agreement that they are planning to sign, which goes against this, is worth less than a roll of toilet paper.
