By: Dr Stane Granda
The concept of the Velvet Revolution became established for the Czech transition to democracy, whereas what we are experiencing now in Slovenia is a sackcloth counter-revolution. Sackcloth is a symbol of a penitential garment. It is also a symbol of imprisonment.
Criticism of the current government is a fundamental characteristic of democracy. In light of everything we are experiencing, writing about it is increasingly difficult to understand as ordinary criticism, as it represents expressions of helplessness, never despair. It is becoming increasingly clear that the power of the ruling party is the cause of its demise. Nevertheless, it is not a time for complacency. Elected people do not govern, but those who stand behind them. The real rulers are the government’s street wing. The actual power lies with its “cyclists” and the left, which provides the ideological compass. The recent changes in ministers show that even the prime minister’s partner is stronger than the largest government party. SD seems to be benefiting the most from everything, but it is facing an increasing problem with the intellectual potential of the party. Considering everything we have experienced since the last parliamentary elections, we can conclude that we are witnessing a retrograde process, which aims to prove that Slovenes obtained their state in 1945 and that in 1991 we simply left Yugoslavia. Therefore, they deny the act of gaining independence, the merits of the independence fighters, and, in particular, they are undermining democracy. They do not acknowledge the break with the former communism. They continue the work initiated by the chosen ones of General Lipič, who claim that Tito’s Territorial Defence saved us from the previous state framework. Let those who can, understand.
The term “counter-revolution” is worn out and tired. However, despite what we are experiencing, it cannot be called by any other name. Fanaticism and intolerance, more an expression of despair than ideological conviction, are at their peak. It is only a matter of time before physical violence takes over from the physical one. Job dismissals, work bans, and media bans have already affected the director of the Museum of Slovenian Independence, and these are already part of it. The former rulers were not just the top of the party but all those who depended on it. Their descendants have realised that democracy does not guarantee them a bright future, and that Slovenian society must return to the times when those in power became everything from nothing until 1990. That is why we have seen the descendants of former interior ministers and their henchmen among the cyclists, as well as members of the lumpenproletariat. Now, the court is declaring them mentally unfit to avoid just punishment. The former rulers were not only the top of the party and its supporters but, above all, those who lived off the state property. The party’s exit from power was, in fact, the formal end of a several-year process in which those chosen for it prepared for wild privatisation. The origin of the “UDBA mafia” and tycoons was never a secret, not to mention the oligarchs.
If a counter-revolution is taking place, there must have been a revolution before it. Slovenian independence fulfils all the necessary requirements for such a characteristic. What most characterises it is the War for Slovenia, which is increasingly clear to be an intervention to assist domestic counterrevolutionaries who had hidden themselves. Perhaps they really did want to go after someone, such as Kučan, but that is because he did not carry out things as they expected or as agreed upon. So much-vaunted unity during the War for Slovenia can also be seen as a change in tactics because no lustration was carried out. The fundamental question became when, how, and with whom to secure the embezzled social property. This became particularly relevant after the mandates of Kučan and Drnovšek ended when their behind-the-scenes activities were becoming increasingly unreliable, also due to the biological clock. After their story with Janković and Golobič failed, they bought time with new faces and finally obtained Golob and Musar, representatives of the privatisation oligarchy, who would ensure their lasting power with the help of the education system and the judiciary, which they never let go of. They rely on promoting cultural warfare and promising essential social reforms that will never happen. This is just a synonym for the past’s bright future, socialism tailored to man, something that can never truly exist.
International comparative analyses of former communist states reveal not only the genetic defects of the descendants of the perpetrators of bloody communist repression but also the political impairment of a significant portion of citizens who are unable to adapt to the demands of democracy, where individuals must take responsibility for their own future. This is the primary reason for seeking refuge under the old forces and new faces as their modern manifestation. Therefore, pre-election programmes of democratic forces must also necessarily include the training of citizens for democracy. They did not know it and did not value it; instead, they were frightened by it. Self-taught individuals in this field, as evidenced by the case of NSi and probably Logar’s circle, are a double-edged sword. They imagine they know what they want, but they are asking the wrong questions about how to achieve it.