By: Dr Metod Berlec
The public support for Golob’s government, which is plummeting from one scandal to another, continues to decline. According to a public opinion survey conducted by Mediana for Delo, the assessment of the government’s work has further decreased compared to February when it reached its lowest point during this term. According to this survey, in the elections, the SDS would win with 22.9% of the votes (in February 23.7%), followed by the Gibanje Svoboda (GS) party with 15% (in February 16.8%). NSi would follow with 4.9% (in February 5.1%), while both the SD and the Levica would receive 4.4% (in February 2.6% and 5.3% respectively).
Among the parties that would remain below the parliamentary threshold, the Pirate Party would receive the most votes (3.2%), followed by SNS (2.9%), Resnica (2.7%), Vesna (1.7%), and SLS (1%). The survey did not include Rupar’s party, the Voice of Pensioners, nor the potential Logar’s Platform for Cooperation. Similar to the previous month, about 55% of respondents answered negatively regarding the assessment of the government’s work, while 28% had a neutral view, and only 13.6% responded positively, which is slightly lower than in February. The respondents gave the government an average rating of 2.23 (in February 2.28), which is even lower than the public support for Janša’s government has ever been.
Last week, the political space was strongly shaken by the affair related to the disclosure of excessive leaking of classified information from the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS) to the National Assembly for the purposes of a parliamentary investigative commission probing suspicions of illegal financing of political parties. The commission is led by parliamentarian Tamara Vonta from GS. Previously, it was led by now former (ardent) MP of the Gibanje Svoboda, Mojca Šetinc Pašek, who now behaves like some sort of “penitent” or “whistle-blower”. The latter revealed that FURS had forwarded extensive documentation to the National Assembly, which was supposed to disclose tax secrets of companies and related legal and natural persons for a period of 15 years, dating back to 2008, even though the commission had requested documentation for only the last few years. The excessive documentation was allegedly sent to the National Assembly based on an informal agreement between Robert Golob, the Secretary-General of the Gibanje Svoboda, Vesna Vuković, and the Director of FURS, Peter Grum, who was appointed to this position by the largest governing party. With this, GS would have unlawfully gained access to data with which they would attempt to discredit the opposition SDS, companies, and media unfavourable to the government, including the magazine you are reading. In short, we are witnessing the Slovenian version of the Watergate scandal, which can also be called the Golobgate affair.
THE LIST OF WOMEN “DISCARDED” BY ROBERT GOLOB IN HIS TWO YEARS OF GOVERNING IS QUICKLY GROWING, ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILITY THAT THEY MAY SEEK REVENGE AGAINST HIM.
As a result, last Wednesday, after a meeting of the GS’ leadership, it was announced that the notorious Vesna Vuković, known in political circles as Golob’s Rasputin, will step down from her position as the party’s Secretary-General at the end of the month. She will be replaced by Rok Marolt, who is considered to be close to Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič. Marolt is increasingly being mentioned as Golob’s successor in the position of the president of GS and the prime minister. Experienced Petra Škofic is also stepping down from her role as the head of the prime minister’s cabinet. She will be replaced by the young Luka Špoljar, who began his political career in the failed Marjan Šarec List. Also leaving the prime minister’s office as of April 1st is the state secretary for culture, Kaja Širok, and the prime minister’s advisor for economic affairs, Saša Leban. According to experts, this is being done at the request of Golob’s partner, Tina Gaber, who has an incredibly strong influence on the so-called Sun King. The latter has undergone a complete stylistic transformation and has been enthusiastic about the “new communication strategy” based on her advice. Due to this, the position of the Director of the Government Communication Office, Petra Bezjak Cirman, is also under threat. It is rumoured that she will now engage the online influencer Samanta Cimerman, who shares PR tips on Instagram. Over the past weekend, Golob denied on the social network that he was stepping down from the position of prime minister and asserted that he was not seeking the position of European Commissioner for Energy in the next European Commission. “What I see could hardly be called a strategy. To me, it all seems more like a midlife crisis,” commented communication expert Dr Dejan Verčič to POP TV. He added, “It all looks like the prime minister is making decisions in this situation and lately with hormones, not with his head.” In political backstage talks, it is also said that besides Gaber, Golob is influenced only by the Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, while the former party leader, Milan Kučan, has been more focused on his health issues lately.