By: Dr Matevž Tomšič
During the term of the current government, we have grown accustomed to all sorts of oddities, absurdities, and even obvious foolishness. We have become used to Prime Minister Robert Golob and his associates making claims, predictions, and promises, only to change their minds overnight and deny or alter them. What they say often has little connection to facts or logic. Accordingly, the policies implemented by the ruling team have been inconsistent, contradictory, and mostly counterproductive.
The prime minister nevertheless wishes to remain in the saddle after this year’s parliamentary elections. His party and the two other coalition partners want the same. And this despite the fact that the current ruling coalition no longer has a parliamentary majority. They are at least six MPs short. It seems Golob was not fully aware of this when the election results were announced. Now he has realised that securing the support of forty‑six MPs is a demanding task. That is why he appears almost intent on pressuring certain parties to support him. In his arrogance, he is entangling himself in increasingly bizarre ideas and proposals.
Among these ideas, the one that “carries the baton” is the proposal to form some kind of “government of national unity”. Despite its grand‑sounding name – or perhaps precisely because of it – it is one of the greatest oddities in the political history of independent Slovenia. Golob presented it as a supposed solution, allegedly necessary for successfully confronting a crisis that is said to be coming and about to hit us with full force. Interestingly, before the elections he insisted that the country had no major problems, let alone a crisis, claiming that Slovenia was flourishing in practically every area. And now, suddenly, such a reversal. But as noted, we have become quite accustomed to such mental U‑turns from him over the past four years.
Even more absurd is what he imagines under the concept of a government of national unity. In principle, all parliamentary parties would be included – except the Slovenian Democratic Party. Under no circumstances would it participate. This shows that Golob is either manipulating or has no idea what he is talking about. Such a government is usually formed in exceptional circumstances – most often in wartime. But the condition for it to deserve such a name is the participation of all key political parties, meaning those that represent the main political options and the major segments of the electorate. In our case, this means that the Slovenian Democratic Party would necessarily have to be part of it, as it is by far the largest party of one of the two central political blocs. And specifically, the right‑wing bloc, which received more votes in the election than its opponents on the left.
A governing coalition without this party could in no way be called a government of national unity. In fact, it would be a very transparent political trick, since the inclusion of a few right‑leaning parties would serve merely as a façade behind which the existing left‑leaning ruling lineup could continue its work.
But nothing suggests that the non‑left parties Golob and his team are inviting into the government are willing to fall for the bait. That is why their arrogance is now turning into nervousness. They are jumping from one oddity to the next. Now, for example, they are warning the trio of parties around New Slovenia, which consistently refuses to cooperate with them, that they must “respect the will of the voters”. What will, exactly? According to them, the will of the voters of these parties is supposedly that they join a left‑wing coalition in which they would be nothing more than an appendage. And this together with those who initiated criminal proceedings against their MPs simply because they were performing their oversight duties over the repressive apparatus. The reality is the opposite. Their voters would strongly resent these parties entering Golob’s government. It is quite possible that such a move would be their political funeral. And we can only hope that Golob’s potential non‑left partners in this self‑proclaimed government of national unity understand that they would be walking into a trap from which they would struggle to escape.