By: Peter Jančič (Spletni časopis)
It was a slip of the tongue, a misuse of the dual form. This is how Robert Golob from Brussels further explained his public accusation of Tatjana Bobnar, when he revealed that she had come to him before the elections as a police officer, offering to clean the Janša supporters from the police if he made her the Minister of the Interior. A video quickly went viral on social media showing the same Golob last year on POP TV assuring that he met Bobnar for the first time after the elections. So, he either lied last year or this week.
Golob had to respond because even the biggest media could not stay silent about this awkwardness. He “got tangled up” on the most-watched television channel, run by Tjaša Slokar Kos, the wife of Drago Kos. Golob, after failing with Tomaž Vesel, is now trying to “install” Kos’ sister, Marta Kos, as a European Commissioner. Marta Kos is also fighting against Janša’s supporters.
To top it all off, Golob got caught in this situation while publicly accusing Tatjana Bobnar, suggesting that she should face the same criminal procedure he himself is currently undergoing. Recently, Golob and Bobnar have been publicly bidding on who abused their position more for party influence over the police, which should not be party affiliated.
Golob did not misuse the dual form, as he claimed. Last year, he said: “Before both were appointed, both the minister and the police director, I met them for the first time. That was on May 31st, the day before their appointment.” He explicitly emphasised that he met both, the minister and the police director, on that date, May 31st. He did not use the dual form incorrectly; he spoke about both in the plural – perhaps in line with a dialect. This is also evident from the footage.
Golob’s serious issues with truthfulness were further highlighted by an additional dimension of his appearance. He responded to the police’s charges by accusing them of “gassing the country” in the past and committing the worst human rights violations since the country was established. To defend himself, the Prime Minister lied. He knew he was telling lies. That is the definition of lying. Human rights violations, especially severe ones, are judged by courts. The courts have not found any violations by the police related to the use of gas and the dispersal of violent protesters. On the contrary – the procedures demanded by government parties against police chiefs after coming to power have collapsed.
It gets even worse because the false accusations against the police were part of a broader campaign. The first false accusation was published early in the morning, before the Prime Minister’s speech, by Primož Cirman on Necenzurirano. After the Prime Minister’s appearance, the same false claim was posted on the social network X by the government, where the communication office is led by Cirman’s wife, Petra Bezjak. It is not necessarily her doing. The long arm of Vesna Vuković may still be reaching into the government.
In a normal country, such false propaganda smearing the police would be an even bigger scandal than lying about the advisor to the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar. Whether the Prime Minister lied about her last year or this week, or both times. It is somewhat understandable that such things are done by party warriors, like Jani Möderndorfer, who was once a major defector for a bunch of left-centrist parties and is now the most prominent soldier, the half-brother of Mladina editor Gregor Repovž, Lenart Žavbi, who also defected from Levica to Svoboda before the elections. However, it is not common or reasonable for the role of soldiers, who speak obvious untruths for party benefits, to be taken over by heads of government. Not even when things are going badly for them, as Bobnar tried to explain Golob’s reaction. Or when they are neck-deep in trouble, as someone else might put it.
A head of government who behaves like a party soldier loses more than just the trust of the people; he brings trouble to all those he leads. Who can still know if Golob, in his anger, is not again misusing the dual or plural forms, or if his identity has not been stolen again, as he claimed when I revealed that he had an open account at Raiffeisen Bank in Romania, just a stone’s throw from the former offices of GEN-I, after he publicly stated that he had no accounts abroad?
An additional problem for Golob is that we know his MPs in parliament have been blocking opposition oversight of his government and investigations into suspected irregularities for the past two years. These include those in the state-run GEN-I, as well as in government operations. They have also blocked the scrutiny of payments to Vuković’s company (and Cirman, who eventually shut down this parallel company) from the state-run GEN-I, when they were still working for the state-owned Siol.net.
Among the defenders of Golob, who have been preventing the usual oversight of the government, are even MPs from the opposition NSi, led by Matej Tonin. They agreed to this role in the hope of keeping their people at the top of state-owned companies and gaining benefits in parliament at the expense of the larger SDS, which competes with them in elections. Part of this “pact” broke down when Svoboda members removed the director of DARS, Valentin Hajdinjak, because Golob is simply greedy and wants his own people in every position. Both parties were put in a difficult situation by the experienced Janez Janša, who refused to participate in this game of fake government oversight, leaving NSi in an awkward position, seen more as a silent coalition partner of Golob rather than as an opposition force. As a result, Golob is perceived as an unreliable partner, and as an eccentric politician who disregards the opposition and its voters. He faced a similar situation with Bobnar, where he also demanded complete submission and control over everything to avoid any missteps. But Bobnar resisted him.
Golob certainly has reasons to prevent oversight and even attempt to control the police – likely out of fear.
Looking at the bigger picture, Golob has set entirely new boundaries in the country for what is permissible when running a state-owned company or when in power. Some within the political elite, even in the opposition, quietly welcome some of his “achievements”, as they will benefit from them. For instance, he has significantly increased state funding for political parties and plans to substantially raise the salaries of officials. The latter is happening in a rather “Golob-style” way. First, by expanding the government with five additional ministries, he created a massive number of new official positions and political jobs for people from Svoboda, SD, and Levica. However, his attempt to then significantly raise their salaries hit a snag. So far, there has been a lot of talk but little action that would result in more money for officials. The Constitutional Court intervened to generate some activity, as the Prime Minister had been talking and promising for too long. As a result, supreme court judges and top prosecutors now have significantly higher salaries than constitutional judges, the Prime Minister, MPs, and the President of the Republic.
After the inflation of ministers and political appointees, we now have a “messy nest” when it comes to salaries.
Not even a visit to the outgoing U.S. President Biden in the coming days will be able to hide or fix Golob’s “achievements”. The meeting will even carry some awkward symbolism for Golob. Like Biden, Golob cannot count on a second term.
The difference is that for Golob, it is not because of his age. And it is also uncertain whether Golob will even finish his current term, something Biden has managed to do.