By: Vančo K. Tegov
I remember the autumn of 2024, when a different, more ambiguous scent was already in the air – less pleasant, more contrived.
Someone had created such an atmosphere for themselves just before the “weather” began to turn. And then suddenly – boom. Or for those who know the context, more of a blam. “Et tu, Brute?” Or simply, “you too?” Not brutal, but certainly Brutus‑like – full of scepticism and astonishment. Such betrayals of one’s own principles leave long‑lasting consequences, a kind of permanent mark. In politics (at least in principled politics), this turns into lethargy, fading, and eventually a pale shadow – or even nothing at all.
Barely 24 hours after the announcement of his departure, information already surfaced about the founding of a new party, built on an existing platform – along with its geographic and “political” reach. Much of this had already been hinted at before. Or, as I put it in the title: he was an eagle who spread his “wide” wings with the wind others were generating. He flew with gentle flaps, enjoying the comfort he had known before.
The factional break from the cohesive body of SDS was genuinely damaging – though a few months later, even that seemed less relevant. The act was undoubtedly pathological and partly “dead” from the moment it broke away from a functioning whole. Logar’s various excursions around the country, meeting with different groups according to a model that is not his, and to whom he cannot promise anything, are spineless – a combination of impulsiveness, vanity, and lofty words. With the political “decoration” of yet another dissident and a few disappointed, academically unfulfilled individuals (I must admit – mostly women, drawn in by his “charm”), it is clear that this is ego‑inflation and a project meant to bring him political capital. Or at least a nice dinner or two.
Over the past two years (or a good year and a half), quite a lot has accumulated: self‑inflation, his own and – much to my disappointment – that of a few provincial, academically inclined commentators who, like him, mastered some instrument (string, wind, or keyboard), making it easier for them to find themselves and “rehearse” during the pauses.
Courage, delight in the “glitter” of polling numbers, impulsiveness, trousers still too tight, the belief that he knows everything, what he can do, what he cannot. And no one is allowed to remind him otherwise. As for the aforementioned “decoration,” nothing different there – some changes here and there, but one constant: what once grew in the strong bora wind must now not be exposed to it, lest it snap. It has become that thin and transparent, even politically. And if we add the narcissism characteristic of the first two faces (now already personified in the party), it becomes clear where this is all heading. Later – actually the current structuring – was completed two months before the election, except that the shades of its functioning, the real profile of the party, are entirely different from what the logo suggests.
The polling ping‑pong drives them to imagine an important role for themselves. Our political system, as it is, leads to stable two‑party coalitions with a parliamentary majority – preferably comfortable or very comfortable ones, so they do not quickly become uncomfortable and force the government into constant majority‑hunting. After a few appearances of double‑digit polling results, he already “assumed” the role of a paper prime minister who will bring order everywhere and create an atmosphere in which we can all “squeal” with joy. There are more than enough of these cardboard tigers. In the end, things turn out very differently.
What is worrying is his eel‑like slithering, pulling him ever more to the left. He even stated recently that he would gladly join a governing coalition – in the event of an SDS and Janez Janša victory – in which at least one left‑wing party would be invited. Almost like a card dealer who believes he holds all the aces. Here the old saying fits well: “Do not say hop before you jump off the horse” – or do not place yourself in a role you are not in, and as it seems, will not be.
Laissez faire, laissez passer – or let things happen – preferably without handing out lessons from the personified party, at least not in a role that, by all indications, is not yet realistic for him or his followers. Without credibility and integrity – qualities he currently does not possess in sufficient measure – he cannot truly be what he imagines himself to be at this moment. Or perhaps he has even convinced himself that this image of himself is “real.”