By: Gašper Blažič
The anniversary of last year’s parliamentary elections, in which voters chose “freedom”, is just around the corner. Well, that is what they thought back then…
It turned out that the neo-communist nomenclature once again successfully psychologically addressed the electorate with the promise of “freedom”, that with the departure of Janša’s government, covid-19 will also become history (which it would in any case), and that peace will come with a “new face” and that a party that is not a party, but a “movement” will come to power. But let’s be honest: Prime Minister Robert Golob, who has a controversial political and financial past, used a Leninist discourse even before the elections, but now he has started to carry out his threats, and not only in relation to the opposition media, which he wants to break with pressure against advertisers, but also with violence against freedom of speech, with various strategic councils, which in reality will further inflame hatred towards dissenters and at the same time persecute all critical voices, etc. In other words: with the coming to power of Golob’s government, authentic fascism with a left-wing substantive platform was actually placed in a leading position. Let’s remember what Golob said before the elections: “It is time to push them away. This is not right-wing politics, this is fascism.” And apparently, he was not satisfied with a simple march to power, but with the persecution of all who do not think the same way as the ruling coalition.
They are giving us back a verbal tort
In Demokracija magazine, we have already reported on the preparation of a legislative proposal, which effectively legalises the verbal delict abolished in 1990 (Article 133 of the Criminal Code of the SFRY) with the protection of NOB (read: revolutionary traditions). At the same time, Golob’s government also arranged for the liquidation of the Museum of Slovenian Independence and supported new actions of the called “Erased”, who should even get a monument in Ljubljana! So, we are witnessing a kind of cultural revolution, directed against all those values with which we got independent Slovenia in the first place. Kučan’s recent question to Uroš Urbanija, whether the latter is still at large, is just a kind of icing on the cake of revived totalitarianism. Namely, it symbolises the wet dream of the last boss of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, who still has a strong desire to carry out repression. At this point, he and Golob get along well, even if the current Prime Minister has clearly become unmanageable for those who put him in his current position and provided him with adequate media coverage.
Golob’s resignation is not enough!
Despite all this, it should be remembered that Golob’s possible resignation will not change anything in itself, since the ruling coalition is firmly in the saddle and also has a strong majority. Therefore, the possibility of possible preliminary elections is very small, unless the pressure from the citizens is strong enough. If they find a replacement for Golob, it will probably be someone who will also be liked enough by NSi party, which is already in the coalition with one foot, so to speak, and could become a coalition partner in the event of the withdrawal of the Levica party from the coalition. Here, the biggest danger is that the current coalition together with NSi would gather a large enough number of votes for a constitutional majority, in order to remove the last protective elements that prevent the definitive growth of authoritarian arbitrariness through the adoption of constitutional amendments. The ruling coalition is counting on the votes of opportunists who, for the sake of short-term benefits, would rather eat their word and vote for constitutional changes to cement a situation that will be very difficult to correct in the future. As Požareport predicts, the main changes could happen only in the fall.
Slovenia, stand up!
The good news in all of this is that Slovenia is waking up from its long sleep. The third protest rally organised by the Rupar Institute on October 1st, or the Voice of Pensioners initiative attracted 41,000 participants. But this is just the beginning. Only massive civil resistance against the brutality of the self-righteous ruling clique will help bring about more fundamental changes. But for that, first of all, it is necessary to change the mentality. When the author of these lines was preparing for the publication of the book “Slovenia, stand up!” in 2019, still during Šarec’s government, with the help of a designer he determined the image of the book’s cover, which is decorated with the outline of Slovenia in red and an alarm clock ringing five before twelve. In the background, however, is a photo from the gathering at the Depala vas affair in 1994. This symbolism is becoming relevant again. But obviously, for real changes, we will have to get down to the very bottom, when the vast majority of impoverished Slovenians will realise that they have nothing left to lose and that civil resistance to the transitional predators is the only real option. Because the (left) fascism of Golob’s government already buried all illusions about Slovenia finally “normalising” a long time ago. The government and the coalition we have now are taking us back to the dark past!