By: Sara Bertoncelj /Nova24tv
“The session could have been carried out. The second question is whether everyone would be present at this session because of that,” said the President of the National Assembly Igor Zorčič in the show Odkrito, adding that he could confirm first hand that there were threats, “that if we will not bow to the will, or if we do not join a new coalition, they will settle a score with us through media, through various portals,” he explained.
When asked about what he wanted to say with a tweet when he wrote that the constructive vote of no confidence was neither prevented by the Rules of Procedure nor the Coronavirus, but those who did not want it to be decided, the President of the National Assembly Igor Zorčič replied that covid was something which they have been dealing with in the National Assembly for some time now. “Despite a series of measures, there were some infections in the National Assembly, but at that time no one made any drama out of it,” he explained, adding that he was also in risky contact in December, so he took both tests, which turned out to be negative. But he did not spread it around, as was the situation this time, when they wanted to place the alleged infections at the Knovs session in the context of the no confidence vote, and the media actually found all out about it first. Namely, Zorčič is convinced that the constructive no confidence vote could have been carried out, as it was found out on the same day that none of the tests were positive. However, he emphasised that he did not know who initiated all this or whether it was initiated by the KUL coalition. “I do not want to point a finger at anyone. I do not know who told the media that someone came to the Knovs meeting infected,” said Zorčič.
“Here we had a concrete statement of Mr. Erjavec, who said that he wanted 90 MPs to decide on this. I looked at the statistics of previous Prime Ministerial elections. The last time there were 90 MPs in the Prime Minister’s election was in 2012. Otherwise, never,” he commented on the expectations of Karl Erjavec, who, allegedly due to virus infections, withdrew his consent to run for Prime Minister. A session of constructive no confidence vote could have been held because no one was infected at the Knovs meeting, but the question is, if it even is a question, whether everyone would be present at the meeting because, for example, one MP is currently in quarantine. “Maybe someone else would be missing, but you cannot know that, because the National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure actually solve all these situations by stipulating that the National Assembly can always validly decide if a majority of all deputies are present,” Zorčič explained.
Some really jump like rabbits from a meadow in settling scores
Zorčič also said in the show that he had read hints on social networks that the KUL coalition on the one hand and the SDS on the other hand should offer certain amounts to MPs in order to make them stay on their side or to come to the other side. “My experience is that neither me nor anyone I know was offered any amounts. But there were threats, yes, I can confirm this first hand that if we do not bow to the will, or, I will say, if we do not join a new coalition, they will settle the score with us through the media, through various portals. Now, how true this really is, is hard to judge. However, it seems here and there that some people really jump like rabbits from the meadow when it comes to settling the score,” the President of the National Assembly admitted in the conversation.
We are a very small country, which knows how to divide like a superpower
“Today, many people blame this coalition of being a coalition of hatred, even at the time when we did not have ministers yet,” recalled Zorčič about the first protest. “But when I read these writings of various critics,” Zorčič continued, “I see that even those who are warned between the lines that the government or the coalition is the one spreading hatred, that they have lost a unique opportunity to prove themselves to be different.” Zorčič also explained what is happening when many MPs are being persuaded today, especially from the coalition, DeSUS and SMC, to go away and get off this train. “The experience of this one year, when so much manure flew on MPs from the same side with which we worked until recently, is that, that of course everyone will have this consideration of who is the one to foster discord, and who is the one who wants to connect.” Zorčič also expressed his view that the future of Slovenia must definitely be based on integration. “We must be aware that there are only two million of us in Slovenia, we are a very small country, which can be divided as a superpower, that has had a civil war in history,” Zorčič put in context the moment when we need to start talking to each other.
If you say something in an ugly way, do not count on getting nice words back
The host Igor Pirkovič also asked how many times in the National Assembly Zorčič had to silence someone. The question, of course, also referred to a recent session, during which there was again an exchange of slightly juicier words. The President of the National Assembly replied that he does not keep any statistics on this, but there were different kinds of outbursts. “Usually the actors are one and the same,” he stressed. Pirkovič mentioned some statements by Miha Kordiš, an MP from Levica party, and Zorčič agreed that Kordiš is the MP who most often uses controversial words and also receives various reprimands. “I do not think this is a way of debating for the National Assembly,” Zorčič said, adding that everything can be said in either a nice or an ugly way. “If you say something in an ugly way, do not count on receiving nice words back,” he added. Both of them also agreed that some call for tolerance quite impatiently and even this can sometimes prove to be quite problematic.