By: Dr Vinko Gorenak
The lies of the coalition’s boss, Golob, have piled up to the point where one could easily write a hefty book. Who knows, maybe someone will take on that task someday. In any case, the space for my contributions here is limited, so I cannot afford to do that within this format.
A few days ago, there was a serious clash between the head of the coalition and the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar. Both, of course, hear better with their left ear than their right, and the left side of their heart beats faster and stronger – this also applies to their brains, where the left side is more capable and quicker. As a result, both tend to hold more or less extreme left-wing political views, which we can see on a daily basis. Under such circumstances, one might expect them to get along and find common political ground quickly, but that is not the case at all. Such serious conflicts never occurred between their predecessors, even when they came from opposing political camps and held different political beliefs. That is why their dispute is all the more noteworthy.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, let me explain that Golob and Pirc Musar work practically in the same building, just with entrances on opposite sides. This means they could hear each other if they simply raised their voices from their respective offices. But that is not how it is. They behave like two vain roosters, each crowing on their own pile of dung, communicating only through the media. The content of their dispute is not even that important – it concerns the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia and the Human Rights Ombudsman. Each has their own responsibilities, and the only solution is to come to an agreement rather than accusing and insulting each other.
At the same time, Golob’s accusation that Pirc Musar is responsible for the failure to appoint a governor – allegedly harming Slovenia because it currently lacks a vote in the European Central Bank’s Governing Council during discussions on defence spending – is not to be overlooked. This, of course, is yet another blatant lie from Golob. The ECB Governing Council has absolutely nothing to do with determining defence spending. One really wonders whether Golob is deliberately lying or simply has no idea what he is talking about.
Among Golob’s lies and blunders is also the condolence he sent to Dimitar Kovačevski after a terrible tragedy involving dozens of deaths and serious injuries in a nightclub fire in North Macedonia. The problem? Kovačevski is no longer the Prime Minister of North Macedonia. He served from 2022 to January 2024. Naturally, this caused confusion in North Macedonia and became a laughingstock internationally – an embarrassment for Slovenia for which Golob alone is responsible.
But the head of the coalition does not just lie and speak nonsense – he also performs “miracles.” Not long ago, he and Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel proudly appeared on camera to announce that the number of patients with referrals marked “very urgent” had decreased by 68,000. Such a success would certainly deserve praise, especially for the doctors – if it were true. But Golob’s claims were immediately refuted by the medical community, whom he continues to insult by calling them parasites.
In reality, waiting times have not shortened at all. The truth is quite different. What the coalition did was simply redefine the category “very urgent” to mean a patient must now be treated within 30 days instead of the previous 14. Logically, this results in a lower number of patients marked as “very urgent,” but the actual number of patients and their needs have not changed one bit.
A similar situation occurred regarding public rental housing. Do you remember how, at the beginning of this government’s term, Minister Luka Mesec ceremoniously announced they would build 20,000 such apartments? Golob even corrected him, saying they would build 30,000. The reality? In 2023, 536 public rental apartments were built, and last year, 513 – most of them started during Janez Janša’s government. The facts are clear: in addition to lying and making blunders, it is also evident that they simply do not know how to govern.