The director of the Slovenia’s intelligence agency SOVA, Rajko Kozmelj, refused to give the parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Commission access to the hiring practices, which was requested in order to check for possible abuse of the powers of PM Šarec.
The PM presumably intervened to secure a job in the agency to a female friend of his. This represents an unprecedented denial of oversight, which is enshrined in law, to a democratically elected institution. It is also a vicious attack on parliamentary democracy and system of democratic controls. The reasoning behind the denial probably lies in the attempt to further cover up the evidence of the role of PM Šarec in the employment of his close female friend.
Both, the public and opposition called for the immediate resignation of SOVA director Kozmelj and an extraordinary session of the Slovenian parliament. SOVA has been dodging allegations of nepotism and wrongdoings, including cover-ups for years. In its 2011 report to the Intelligence Oversight Commission, SOVA even withheld and covered-up crucial information and the scope of the NLB-Iran affair when the Slovenian state-owned bank (NLB) laundered 1 billion dollars for the Iranian regime.