Prime Minister Robert Golob must resign. This is the opinion of the opposition – and not only because of the alleged findings of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK). And Golob himself would have advised this during the election campaign. Today, however, he is – unsurprisingly – silent, as is the entire coalition.
When Robert Golob was asked during the election campaign whether he would resign from his position as prime minister if the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption found him guilty of a violation of the integrity law, he replied: “Certainly […] I truly believe in the rule of law, and I believe that when the mechanisms determine that something is very wrong with politics, it must take responsibility.”
That was in 2022. Three years later, Golob remains silent, even though (for now, still unofficial) information has appeared in the public domain that the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has found a violation of the Integrity Act in its interim report. Golob has therefore received a decision that is not favourable to him, and he is now seeking a way out of this predicament with the help of the legal expertise of attorney Stojan Zdolšek.
The violation is related to his political interference in the police, namely, to the time when he demanded that former Minister of the Interior, Tatjana Bobnar, influence the decisions of European judicial bodies, replace personnel in management positions, and appoint (obviously) his own people.
Regarding the requirements for intervention in the work of judicial authorities, it is clear that this was a case brought against the head of the National Bureau of Investigation (NPU) by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecution later dismissed the charges, and Muženič is now back at the helm of the National Bureau of Investigation. Golob also demanded that Bobar and Lindav (former acting director-general of the police) replace Evgen Govekar, now retired director of the Nova Gorica police administration. Miloš Milović, Golob’s notorious security advisor, is said to have demanded the employment of a specific person at that post. The final straw came when Golob demanded the dismissal of Martin Jazbec, former head of the police security service, according to the reports of the media outlet 24ur. Much of the information was revealed in letters published by Bobnar and Lindav, and some in subsequent appearances.
It is also worth mentioning the noticeable difference in his opinions of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption since Golob came to power. Before the elections, he described the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption as an institution whose decisions must be respected, even if it means resigning as a politician in the event of established violations. When his affair of exerting political pressure on the police broke out, he claimed that the proceedings against him were political in nature. In doing so, he degraded his pre-election version of himself. Or, of course, he did not take his promises to resign seriously even during the pre-election period, meaning that he lied, just like he has in many cases later.
The opposition is unanimous in its opinion: Golob must resign!
The Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) has expressed its expectation that Golob will keep his “promise from April 2022 and resign. In addition to the aforementioned findings of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption regarding the purge of Janša’s supporters, there are at least 100 other reasons for this to be the next step he takes.” The New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi) also commented on the news, saying that the findings of the institutions must be taken into account and respected, understanding that we are all equal before the law, “but when it comes to the prime minister, he is expected to demonstrate the highest possible integrity, and so, he should take the matter seriously and resign.”
As expected, the coalition parties – the Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda), the Social Democrats (Socialni Demokrati – SD), and the Left party (Levica) are keeping quiet. Not because of publicly proclaimed unity, as this is clearly no longer the case on a number of issues, but because Golob’s fall would also mean the fall of their government and thus of numerous interests that take precedence over the expected findings of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. After all, how important is a violation of the law, when compared to personnel and financial interests?
Kučan and Janković are concerned
The coalition parties and behind-the-scenes power centres are certainly not ready for elections either, as they are performing poorly in public opinion polls. Every month in power is therefore worth its weight in gold, as it may happen that the electorate will expel them from the state coffers after next year’s elections. This also explains why they want to use ideological projects to cover up the failures of their own rule. They are obviously counting on the war in Gaza to make Slovenians forget about the long waiting times in healthcare. And the lukewarm reporting of the media loyal to the transitional left, only further assists these political calculations.
Ž. K.
