By now, it is clear that Robert Golob is a political corpse, just like Borut Pahor in 2011, Gregor Virant after 2014 or Miro Cerar after 2016. It is not a question of whether he will fall but instead when he will fall. However, a successor is clearly not lined up yet, and so the operation to temporarily rescue the character and work of Robert Golob and his instant party has begun. Former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Janez Janša has identified six points that indicate that the deep state operation has begun.
The six points in question show that the media, academics and the “healthy” forces of society have been instructed to recycle the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) and Robert Golob for further use (at least) until the autumn:
- The Freedom Movement takes the baton and officially adopts the Čebine and Hey Brigades (Hej Brigade) ritual (we became independent in 1945, without communists, there are no partisans and without partisans, we would be speaking German today).
Golob has kept quite a low profile in terms of ideology so far. And even on the national holiday of the 27th of April – the Day of Uprising Against the Occupation, when the communists celebrate the declaration of war against the capitalist part of the world (Britain, the USA, France), he decided to go to Sicily instead of celebrating here. He himself has repeatedly said in private company that the partisans and the Liberation Front mean nothing to him and that he is not burdened by ideology. But now he is suddenly the most ardent “partisan,” comparing the wire around inter-war Ljubljana to concentration camps (in mockery of the suffering of the people who died there), and his party has adopted the language of the Social Democrats (Socialni demokrati – SD) and the Left party (Levica) and started to idealise totalitarian Yugoslav communism.
- Full mobilisation of the mainstream media in attacks on protest groups that have been deemed dangerous to the government, especially pensioners and farmers.
When the firefighters protested, the media did not yet dare to go into full attack, partly because the firefighters were national heroes after the fire in the Kras region, partly because the decadent disintegration of the new government had already begun, and the old forces did not mind if the media attacked the government, because it seemed that Golob wanted to foolishly “outgrow” the godfathers from the background who had put him at the helm of the government, and try to be smart to their faces, and even insult them, in his own narcissistic manner. But the joke was over with the protests organised by farmers and pensioners, who together make up a vulnerable group totally neglected by the government: one mass tractor protest, together with Rupar’s pensioners, can shake the whole government if other disgruntled citizens, whom Golob had let down, join in.
And therefore, the regular media attacks and attempts to delegitimise the protesters began. The pensioners were accused of having been brought together by the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), old statements by the leader of the protests, Rupar, suddenly resurfaced, and the tractor drivers were accused of having “expensive tractors” (although most of them were worth around 10 to 20 thousand euros, and these are working machines, which are the basic means of a farmer). It was immediately apparent that the united protesters (with strong inertia outside the capital, unlike the political cyclists – or the leftist youth from the caviar socialist circles) were a great danger not only to Robert Golob but to the whole left-wing coalition.
- Calling in the troops – Aleksander Čeferin and Zoran Janković to praise and defend Robert Golob.
Aleksander Čeferin is a great tool in the hands of the deep state – every time he is needed, he takes time out of his busy schedule to give a politically motivated interview to one of the controlled media. Once again, his interview, where he praised Golob for being good at heart and doing good work, came at just the right time. As if someone had ordered it! In addition, the Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, also invited his former political subordinate (who is, in fact, still subordinate today) to a red celebration where communist muscles were being flexed, and the Mayor himself gave an interview to the government-run Siol media outlet, where he mentioned that Golob had “solved” the energy crisis.
- Milan Kučan‘s activation in bandaging the wounded knee that was a result of a self-inflicted wound at the closure of the Museum of Slovenian Independence.
The previous government knew that there was a strong nationwide consensus when it came to the question of the existence of the Museum of Slovenian Independence. The current government, on the other hand, existed in the belief that the whole country is made up of Metelkova junkies who only want international socialism. But that is where it was wrong. The abolition of the Museum of Slovenian Independence was a mistake, and the consequent glorification of the Liberation Front and even of the Communist Party was a grave mistake – and Milan Kučan, the penultimate Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, is aware of this, and he wants to resolve the situation with the seemingly cohesive, but in reality salutary, proposal to remove the Communist monument on Republic Square and replace it with a monument to those who fought for our independence.
- Publication of contradictory public opinion polls and propaganda interpretations by the co-creator of the “Dončičs” of Slovenian politics.
It seems that Janja Božič Marolt is completely confused because she does not know which story to sell in the media: one month, the SDS party catches up with the Freedom Movement, and she says that Golob needs to do better at communicating with the electorate. Another month, the results are similar, but she says the government is doing a good job. The creative interpretation of the Mediana and Ninamedia public opinion polls may be Slovenian folklore, but it has always seemed as if the gaugers of public opinion and “their” media know exactly which politician to bash and which to praise (following the principle of the carrot and the stick). Under the Golob government, we live in a state of daily chaos – every day, there is another reckless statement. The PR people at the Government Communication Office are probably trembling in fear. As do the people who conduct public opinion polls. The more people are dissatisfied, the more unbelievable the polls that say the Freedom Movement is gaining at the expense of the SDS party seem – like the last one that was conducted for the Delo newspaper. Things are looking more and more like social engineering at the level of the state – as if the authorities are trying to convince people that there is still a large mass of people who support the liberals.
- Preparations for a partial reconstruction of the government in June and the departure of some of the most exotic ministers.
It is clear that the government is constituted in a similar way to the Biden cabinet – quotas and political connections before competencies. “Exotic” ministers like Asta Vrečko (an undisguised enthusiast of the bloody communist revolution), Emilijana Stojmenova Duh (under her leadership, digitalisation in Slovenia has come to a complete standstill), and political loser Dominika Švarc Pipan (who recently jumped into Zoran Janković’s arms when meeting him at a public function) are not only a burden for the government, but a burden on the entire left-wing opposition, which is losing legitimacy and giving the impression of incompetence, bias and wild political sectarianism. Without them, the government can buy Golob a few more months, during which he could privatise the Gen-I energy company, sell endless solar panels to the state through its companies, and buy an island somewhere in the Pacific.
Not once has the Golob government visited any of the regions
Meanwhile, as Janša notes, behind the facades of the Potemkin Village, a pot of incompetence is boiling, where, despite urgent needs, they are unable to seriously conceive, coordinate and implement a single meaningful reform.
“Moreover, the Golob government has not been able to carry out a single comprehensive visit to a Slovenian region during its 12 months in office. In the same period of the previous mandate, we visited 10 of them,” Janša concluded.
Not only does Golob not visit the regions … he also does not prioritise entrepreneurs, and in closed company, he tells big businessmen to their faces that if they cannot withstand the socialism of his government, they will simply go out of business as collateral damage. We have never had a person able to cause so much damage in such an important position in our independent country. But apparently, his godfathers from the background have decided to extend his political shelf life anyway.
Andrej Žitnik
