It is obvious that the most notorious minister in Šarec’s government, Marko Bandelli, has had a strong ego boost since he became minister. According to siol.net news portal, Bandelli threatened the independent mayor candidate Erik Modic in Komen where Bandelli was mayor until his election to parliament in June. A few months later, Bandelli became Minister of Development, European Projects and Cohesion, while the leader of his party, Alenka Bratušek, runs the Ministry of Infrastructure.
During his time as Mayor, Bandelli was already regarded as exceptionally sharp-tongued and arrogant. Now, after his arrival to the government, his arrogance has risen, as he was not ashamed to intervene in the local elections of his hometown. Candidate Eric Modic was sent the following message by Bandelli: “Dearest Erik. I was told that you will run for mayor. This letter of yours proves my hypothesis that your candidacy is merely intended for your personal interests and the constant battle between you and the Malgaj family. If your candidacy is merely a fight against a neighbor, then know that I will not support you. Well, you are aware of the importance of a lack of support of the two important sectors, such as cohesion, EU funds for regional development and, above all, infrastructure.” This is the e-mail that Marko Bandelli, Minister of Cohesion, sent on 24 September to Eric Modic and several other recipients, when he learned that Modic would be running for mayor of the Municipality of Komen.
To put it in layman’s terms: Modic’s possible victory would mean the withdrawal of all European funds for the municipality, which Bandelli would take care of, in connection with his leader Bratušek, of course. Modic’s candidacy itself is supposed to be controversial for Bandelli, because Modic tends to the projects, financed by the European money, in the municipality. What is that about? Among the four candidates for the mayor of Komen is also Bandelli’s favorite Dean Zalesjak, from the Alenka Bratušek Party. Recently, Bandelli justified his “urgent” ride with blue lights on the highway, saying that according to the law, he can do whatever he wants. Modic, at the moment, does not comment on the events.
Bandelli has already apologized, apparently due to the pressure of the government, saying that he “made a mistake” and that the threat was not meant to be so serious. He supposedly apologized to Bratušek as well, whom he referred to “negligently” in the controversial message. The government, of course, has not commented on this yet.
Anyway, since we are already talking about mistakes committed: remember the notorious beating around the bush of former Minister for Higher Education Gregor Golobič about Ultra? The then President of the Republic, Danilo Türk, stated that Golobič had “made a mistake” and that we could give him another chance. Will Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and his godfathers give arrogant Bandelli another chance as well?
