“The facts are that we, citizens of Slovenia, must demand our rights through protests,” was the message of a pensioner who does not see any other way out of the current situation. “What Golob and the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje svoboda) are doing is a crime, not just ignorance.” Retirees have had enough of being made fun of; they are prepared to demand their rights, even if that has to happen through protest.
While the previous government of Janez Janša worked for the good of the pensioners, the Golob government is cutting off all the positive gains that pensioners got during the previous government’s term. Not only has it neglected the elderly, but it has also even made fools of them by allocating five more euros per year for their pensions, which is bordering on mockery, while it has guaranteed public employees a pay rise, which is already guaranteed and much higher than their pensions.
The pensioners are on the verge of despair because the Golob government has not only forgotten about them, it seems to be intentionally making foolish moves that are actively hurting the pensioners, and the latter are seriously considering protesting. In fact, they are so serious in their consideration that they already have an organisational plan prepared to protest on Mondays on the coast, because it is warmer and cheaper there. Their appeal is not only aimed at other pensioners, though, but they believe that their mobilisation is necessary in the first place because “The Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (Demokratska stranka upokojencev Slovenije – DeSUS) had collapsed in on itself, there is no help planned for us, hence – the referendum,” one pensioner wrote, who believes that the advantage of pensioners, in this case, is time and free public transport, “at least until Prime Minister Golob also starts to believe that this is meaningless as well.”
Pensioners from all over Slovenia to take part in protests
“So, every Monday morning, pensioners from Murska Sobota, Maribor, Ljubljana, Kranj, Celje, Jesenice, Novo mesto, Postojna, Nova Gorica – in short, from all over Slovenia, will get on trains and buses en masse and come to Koper (the Semedela promenade) for a peaceful rally. In case of bad weather, there are enough covered areas available for us (the Tavern, the Bus Station, the Škocjan Cemetery, the Koper Market – in short, enough shelter from the rain). The weather is usually still good in October, and the forecast is encouraging,” wrote the pensioner, who also suggested banners, T-shirts and other material to draw attention to the key issues, such as low pensions, regardless of education and length of service, “because it is incomprehensible that people who worked for the prescribed number of years have pensions that come below the poverty line.”
The ”It’s About the Pensionists” movement
The pensioner in question, of course, agrees that protests must be registered, as the rules dictate, in order to ensure that security is taken care of. The pensioners believe that Golob has betrayed quite a few people with his empty promises, about which he seems to believe that we have already forgotten all about them, but that is far from the truth – “higher prices and taxes, lower pensions and salaries, fewer benefits, waiting times are getting longer and longer, and healthcare services are getting more and more expensive, and there are more and more additional expenses. That is why we are ready for an organised campaign, to put an end to all of this.” As the protests would be on the coast, the pensioners also pointed to media attention from elsewhere, which is also important so that the issue can have an even greater impact, “perhaps not just Radio-Television Slovenia from Ljubljana or TV Koper, but also RAI from Trieste, media outlets from the Croatian part of Istria – in short; publicity from elsewhere is important.”
Tanja Brkić
