By: Dr Vinko Gorenak
I wrote about the lies of the supreme chief of Golob’s coalition almost exactly a year ago. In this article, I will not mention his lies, which I wrote about then, so as not to repeat myself. However, there is so much material that one could consider whether to write more articles on the topic of his lies or start gathering material for a book, which would undoubtedly be very extensive, depending on how long Golob will still be able to lie to us.
These days, my prediction, made almost exactly a year ago, seems to be coming true. In a show on Nova24TV, in a conversation with Boris Tomašič, I predicted that Golob would not survive until 2024 in the position of the prime minister. These days, the centres of the left political option seem to be actively side-lining him and looking for his successor. Perhaps my prediction will come true, or it will happen around mid-2024 during the elections to the European Parliament when Golob from the centres of the left political spectrum might be ‘exported’ to Brussels, or he will himself say that he is ‘too ill’ to continue as the prime minister. But let’s get back to his lies. There are many of them, so in this article, I will focus on some.
Do you remember last year’s address to the judges when Golob announced a 600-euro supplement to judges’ salaries? All present judges, of course, applauded cheerfully. But nothing came of it because they explained to Golob that there was no legal basis for such a thing. Something similar happened last year with his announcement when he said that his government would financially reward the firefighters who selflessly extinguished the fire in the Karst region. This also did not materialise because they explained to him that he could not reward individual firefighters, but he could reward firefighting associations.
In April 2023, Golob claimed that inflation in Slovenia was lower than in neighbouring countries. Again, he lied. Opposition MPs proved to him that inflation in Italy and Austria is lower than in Slovenia. When Golob’s coalition asked him why he agreed to a wage reform and a ratio of 7:1 between the highest and lowest salaries, he said that this was proposed by public sector unions. The next day, the unions themselves exposed him as a liar, saying that they had never proposed such a thing. Golob also lies abroad. Last year, in the European Parliament, he claimed that he created the company Gen-I from scratch. It is clear to everyone that it is a state-owned company, not created by Golob but established by the state. Golob also lied about the amount of his salary, especially about the million-dollar performance bonus.
In his role as prime minister, Golob has so far ‘dismissed’ four ministers: Danijel Bešič Loredan, Minister of Health, Tatjana Bobnar, Minister of the Interior, Irena Šinko, Minister of Agriculture, and Uroš Brežan, Minister of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning. Well, Bešič Loredan, Bobnar, and Brežan officially resigned themselves. Bešič Loredan did not say much about the reasons for his resignation, he only said that Golob shoved the resignation statement in front of him and that he just signed it. However, this was not the case with Bobnar, Šinko, and Brežan. Šinko and Brežan clearly stated in their speeches in the National Assembly that they experienced Golob’s pressures in their work. Situation with Bobnar was even worse. She listed all of Golob’s pressures on appointments in the police, for which Golob has no legal authority. If anyone, Bobnar has so far seriously shaken Golob’s chair.
Golob often waves around a police document signed by Deputy Chief of Police Igor Ciperle in public. It states that Golob never interfered in police operational procedures. Golob apparently thinks that this document will absolve him of all the blame that Bobnar laid on him. However, Ciperle, the deputy chief of police, contradicted Golob in the National Assembly. Bobnar did not claim that Golob interfered in police operational procedures; she claimed that he interfered in police personnel procedures and demanded the dismissal of individuals who had not committed any wrongdoing.
Finally, a more recent lie from Golob. A few days ago, he said that during the current leadership of RTV Slovenia, no one lost their job. This is, of course, a lie, immediately refuted by Uroš Urbanija, who, during the current leadership of RTV Slovenia, was one of the first to lose his job.
In any case, the fact is that Golob lies as easily as a dog runs, confirming the proverb with him once again. To be continued.