By: Dr. Metod Berlec
According to the data of the public opinion poll conducted by the Parsifal agency for Nova24TV, published in this issue of the magazine Demokracija as well as online, among the candidates for the president of the republic, the respondents are by far the most supportive of the independent candidate Dr Anže Logar, who enjoys 27.1% support. In second place is Nataša Pirc Musar with 19.9 percent, followed by Milan Brglez with 10.7 percent support. Support for Logar has grown by 0.6 percentage points since the September Parsifal poll, while support for Pirc Musar has fallen by almost 6.9 percentage points. Brglez, who submitted his candidacy only in the last week of September, is included in the survey for the first time. The fourth place is occupied by Sabina Senčar with 4.8% support, followed by Janez Cigler Kralj with 4% support. Vladimir Prebilič currently enjoys 3.2% support, while Miha Kordiš is in last place with 2.9% support. According to this survey, 27.4 percent of respondents are undecided.
If there were to be a second round of presidential elections, according to the Parsifal poll, Logar would get 41.3 percent of the votes, and Brglez 33.6 percent. If the choice was between Logar and Pirc Musar, Logar would get 39.6 percent of the votes and Pirc Musar 37.3 percent of the votes. In the last few days, it has been obvious that the dominant regime media wants to raise Brglez’s popularity with a strong campaign so that he can face Anže Logar in the second round, even though he has less chance of defeating him than Nataša Pirc Musar. According to this poll (as well as others), Logar would defeat both Brglez and Pirc Musar in the second round. Of course, it must be emphasised that nothing has been decided yet, as it is expected that the regime’s attacks on Logar will intensify with the desire for the transitional left to have two of its own candidates in the second round, both Brglez and Pirc Musar. Therefore, it will be extremely important that the votes of centre, centre-right, and right-wing voters flock to Logar, who has a realistic chance of winning both in the first and second round of the presidential elections. Of course, only if people go to the polls and cast their vote!
The function of the president of the republic has a great symbolic meaning and is not as insignificant as it sometimes seems. The President of the Republic is directly elected every five years by citizens who are eligible to vote. According to the Slovenian constitution (Article 102), s/he is the highest political official in our country, who “represents the Republic of Slovenia and is the supreme commander of its defence forces”. The competences of the President of the Republic are determined by the Slovenian Constitution (Article 107). The President of the Republic announces elections to the National Assembly; promulgates laws; appoints state officials when this is determined by law; appoints and recalls ambassadors and representatives of the Republic and accepts letters of credence from foreign diplomatic representatives; issuances instruments of ratification; decides on pardons; grants awards and honorary titles; performs other matters determined by the constitution. At the request of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic must express an opinion on an individual issue. During a state of emergency or war, when the National Assembly cannot meet, the President of the Republic may, on the proposal of the government, issue decrees with legal force (Article 108), which may exceptionally limit individual rights and fundamental freedoms. In doing so, s/he must send these decrees with legal force to the National Assembly for approval as soon as it can convene.
That the function of the President of the Republic is important is also shown by the fact that, after consultation with parliamentary groups, s/he also proposes candidates for constitutional judges to the National Assembly for approval (among other appointments). Just a few days ago, the current President of the Republic, Borut Pahor, forwarded to the President of the National Assembly Urška Klakočar Zupančič a proposal to appoint Neža Kogovšek Šalamon to the post of judge of the Constitutional Court. After consultations with the leaders of parliamentary groups, he concluded that the candidate enjoys the necessary support for election. But the problem is that with this the Constitutional Court will get another radical leftist woman, who in the past was even the director of the Peace Institute, which is known for its Yugo-nostalgic, pro-migrant and anti-Slovenian orientation. The election of Kogovšek Šalamon will literally be a spit on Slovenian independence and the Slovenian state because she, like her idol George Soros, supports illegal migration, opposes national borders, European nation-states, and wants to create a multicultural society, the main driver of which will be consumerism. That is, the multicultural cesspool that can be seen in the suburbs of large Western European cities and in the United States, where lawlessness and despair reign.
That is why it is very important who is the president of the republic! If nothing else, s/he does not propose toxic candidates for election to the National Assembly, but, similar to what happens in other democratic countries, opposes the will of the parliamentary majority, which works against the interests of the individual nation-state, if necessary (exceptionally). In a specific case, against the interests of the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovenian nation, and its citizens…