The opposition is already thinking about how they could overthrow the government of Janez Janša. The LMŠ, SD, Levica, and SAB parties are convinced that the government led by Janša is harming Slovenia, despite their important work during the coronavirus crisis, and they want it to go away. “In the opposition, we are often and seriously talking about the forming of a new, centre-left government, but we currently have too few MPs to carry out this project. Those who are missing are currently in the coalition,” SAB President Alenka Bratušek said. With this statement, she was mainly hinting at the DeSUS party, which they have already managed to overtake and therefore gain its MPs in some way, but the SMC party is still in the game. The question arises, what is the left-wing opposition willing to do to gain the votes or the MPs? We are still waiting for the answers from the Police and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.
The current government took office just before the start of the serious situation in the country, which is still ongoing. The burning desire of the current opposition is to overthrow the current government, with no desire for early elections. While the country is still in a state of emergency due to the devastating virus, the opposition parties have come together and decided to forge a plan to try and win over the DeSUS and SMC parties, so they would pick their side. “In the opposition, we are often and seriously talking about the forming of a new, centre-left government, but we currently have too few MPs to carry out this project. Those who are missing, are currently in the coalition,” SAB President Alenka Bratušek explained to the public.
With the help of the media, the opposition has already managed to tarnish the reputation of Minister of Agriculture, Aleksandra Pivec, and oust her from the position of President of the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (DeSUS) with the vote of no confidence. The goal of the opposition is to gain additional votes, with which the no-confidence vote for the current government could pass, and they could form a new coalition. The opposition currently has 39 votes, and an additional thirteen could be won if the DeSUS and SMC parties were to join them, as these two parties are where the opposition itself sees the option of an “alliance.”
After the switch, the opposition could count on 52 votes. What we have heard from the ranks of the opposition is that they see the possibility of connecting with both parties, and they want to offer them a solid coalition agreement, which, in their opinion, should “last” until the next elections. While the Janša government was facing a critical situation at the beginning of its term, in the continuation of its mandate, it started working on projects which would solve the problem of long-term care for the elderly, and projects with which they would face the demographic problems and implement the reform of the pension system. Regardless, the President of the Levica party, Luka Mesec, stated that it was not enough for them to replace the Prime Minister; they would also like to change his policies. It is not yet clear what exactly Mesec wants to change, though.
What is hiding in the background – a coalition agreement, positions, or cash prizes for the SMC and DeSUS MPs?
According to some speculations, the opposition wants to see the Speaker of the National Assembly, Igor Zorčič, at the head of the SMC party, and he is supposedly also one of the candidates for the future Prime Minister. On the one hand, SMC deputies allegedly quietly agreed to cooperate with the current opposition, and on the other hand, SMC deputies are satisfied with the current work and membership in the current coalition. The current political plans of the opposition are reminiscent of this year’s changes of parties of the SMC deputies, where there were speculations about rewards for the deputies who joined the parties of the opposition. Namely, the two most high-profile changes of parties were Jani Möderndorfer’s and Gregor Židan’s, which we have already written about. It is not yet entirely clear how the opposition intends to win both parties over to their side, whether there is really a strong coalition agreement, promised positions, or even monetary rewards behind all of this.
We can all remember a case from the past, when there was a suspicion of political horse-trading in the National Assembly, when the then-Minister of the Interior, Katarina Kresal, ordered an investigation in the National Assembly due to a written promise by Milan Pogačnik to the SNS party president Zmago Jelinčič, in which Pogačnik promised Jelinčič that plots of land would be given to the municipality of Murska Sobota, for the construction of an aviation museum, and in turn, Jelinčič would support Pogačnik in amending the law on the agricultural land fund and would also support him in the interpellation, which happened due to the Bullmastiff affair. After more than four years, the prosecution withdrew from prosecuting those involved in the case of suspicion of trading of SNS votes, due to a lack of evidence.