By: Dr Metod Berlec
The Saturday marathon congress of the Social Democrats (read former communists) in the Union Hall in Ljubljana was one of those political congresses where until the end, it is uncertain who the winner will be. Similarly, in this party twelve years ago, in 2012, when in Kočevje, the long-time party president Borut Pahor was unexpectedly defeated by Igor Lukšič in a close race with a ten-vote margin. This time, it was similarly tight, except that the ultimate winner, Matjaž Han, strategically played the political “chess game” of elections wisely. By mid-March, the agreement for the presidential candidacy was given by the mayor of Ajdovščina, Tadej Beočanin, the leader of the SD parliamentary group, Jani Prednik, and the MEP from the ranks of this party, Milan Brglez. Han, however, stated to the media that he was not interested in the position of the president of the SD party.
Then came the turnaround. While the three official candidates for party president travelled around Slovenia, presenting their programmes, and pledging not to enter a government with SDS and Janez Janša, Han remained silent. By doing so, he avoided the agitprop media attacks he would have faced from dominant leftist media (due to his pragmatism and moderation) if he had been an official presidential candidate from the start. Tactically, he only began to consider the possibility of nominating himself for the position of party president with the help of a sufficient number of delegates at the congress in the middle of last week. He was persistently “urged by the membership” to do so. And it happened. In the first round, 115 delegates supported Han, 104 supported Brglez, 96 supported Prednik, and 69 supported Beočanin. In the second round, 182 delegates supported Han, ten more than Brglez, who had 172 votes.
THE NOTORIOUS MAYOR OF LJUBLJANA, ZORAN JANKOVIĆ, HAS A GREAT INFLUENCE ON THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS PRESIDENT, ROBERT GOLOB.
The reactions to Han’s victory were meaningful. The incumbent president of the SD, Tanja Fajon, reacted joyfully at the announcement of the results, as with Han’s victory, she continues to secure her cherished position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the case of Brglez’s victory, this would have been in question. Moreover, Brglez is a newcomer to this party. Years ago, he was a prominent member of Cerar’s SMC. With the help of Miro Cerar, he even became the president of the parliament, but then, due to his radical leftist views, he was ungratefully abandoned. It was expected that he would join the Levica party, but he joined the SD, where he became a Member of the European Parliament on the party’s list. Now, he was a candidate supported by influential godfathers from the shadows. Even the former head of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Slovenia, Milan Kučan, the man who led the ideological predecessor of the SD, supported him. What is missing for him is the late Janez Kocijančič – Kocka, through whom he operationally managed many things behind the scenes, including in the SD. With Han’s victory, some of the radicals in the SD are bidding farewell. Former Secretary-General of the SD, Uroš Jauševec, wrote on the social media platform Facebook that he is leaving the party “because it has been completely taken over by primitiveness, complete incompetence, and lack of principles”. It is apparent, therefore, that the party is strongly divided into two factions; the first being more pragmatic and moderate, while the second is more left-wing radical. However, Han, after his victory at the congress, also calmed the passions within the party when he stated that his victory does not imply changes in the government and the coalition and that he sees the future of the SD only in centre-left coalitions. Probably also because he was publicly supported before the congress by Aleksander Čeferin, who has good relations with Golob, Tomaž Vesel, Martin Odlazek, and other tycoons who own the majority of Slovenian media.
The events of Saturday at the SD congress only confirm that the political power of the former party leader Milan Kučan is weakening. Not only in this party, but also in wider politics. For example, the notorious mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, has a much greater influence on the current government and its president. This is evident from the times when Janković was the president of Positive Slovenia and Golob was its vice president. Many events confirm this. Just remember how in January last year, the then Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister, Danijel Bešič Loredan, had to publicly apologise to Janković in the presence of Golob at a press conference because he accused him of intending to sell some Ljubljana health centres. Recently, Janković was the first to announce that a new courthouse will be built behind Bežigrad, and a few days later, the government officially confirmed this. Last week, Golob, together with the Minister of Natural Resources, Jože Novak, dutifully accompanied Janković in Ljubljanska Sneberje, promising permanent protection against floods. At the same time, recordings obtained by a parliamentary investigative commission on abuses and illegalities in the construction of the controversial C0 canal revealed that the notorious Ljubljana sheriff employs some practices reminiscent of those from the cult American film The Godfather… Slovenian law enforcement agencies sadly allow this to happen. Until when?