Janez Janša pointed out the three key areas that mark the failed transition. The first is propaganda, that is, the media. The second is law enforcement. The third is represented by state-owned banks and enterprises, through which the first two systems are powered.
Under the auspices of the Institute Dr Jože Pučnik, in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Martens Center, began the inauguration of the 28th generation of the Jože Pučnik Academy. The first speaker was the President of the SDS Party, Janez Janša. He presented his view on the failed transition in Slovenia over the past thirty years and analyzed the current political situation in Slovenia.
The President pointed out at the outset, that the SDS Party is the legal successor of the Slovenian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia. Today’s SDS program is a synthesis of what constituted the core of the Demos program. While the two aforementioned parties were the bearers of the Demos program, especially concerning the key point, that of the Slovenian independence. The Slovenian nation and patriotism therefore remain the main point of the program, even thirty years after its creation. This is because we are aware, in the SDS, that having our own nation is not a given, it is not granted to us forever, but we must constantly strive and fight for our status and our identity.
What is happening in Europe, especially the problem of migration, confirms our efforts. Janša believes that the politics of disintegration of nations, where nationality and identity are no longer important, is at the forefront of the European political clash today, and to a large extent these issues will be decided in the future European elections. Today, Janez Janša leads the only big party in Slovenia’s political landscape. The SDS has been around for three decades, achieving a convincing victory in the last three local elections and in two European elections. Besides, if the Slovenian political space had a normal electoral system, one that would take into account the will of the people, today’s reality would be different, because the party would have been in power several times.
Janez Janša pointed out the three key areas that mark the failed transition. The first is propaganda, that is, the media. The second is law enforcement. The third is represented by state-owned banks and enterprises, through which the first two systems are powered. “Without a radical transition occurring, we can build a government, but it will not be able to rule, because the leverage of governance is not only in the decision-making of the government and of the majority in the parliament. The key drivers of power are in those three segments,” he stressed. In the time of the 2004-2008 government, many decisions were made, which were later removed. Janša cited, as an example, the adoption of a law that would greatly contribute to the prevention of corruption but was later abolished. Instead, we got Drago Kos, Goran Klemenčič and other such caricatures, who were used for political purposes, with no effect. The Slovenian judiciary is especially problematic, mainly due to the violation of the 1994 law, which states that judges who have violated human rights in a totalitarian regime cannot be elected to a permanent term.
Janša recalled the recent failure of state prosecutor Kozina who, in a televised committee debate, cheered for the Levica Party. Nevertheless, he is still a prosecutor, nobody protested, no one deemed it particularly disputable. This shows that the system is rotten. “Not only the transition never happened, but the judiciary with its law enforcement is in worse shape now than during independence,” said Janez Janša, adding that at that time there was some fear and the judges, at least the majority of them, were careful to not pass unfair judgements. Now there is no fear, they think ‘what can anyone do to us,’ there is no external control. The SDS President further discussed the findings of Logar’s Special Commission, that the bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) was not only a self-service for the transition elite, but that it drained a billion euros for the Iranian regime, at a time when international sanctions against Iran were in force. “For almost two years, Iran was the biggest client of NLB, no other company carried out as many transactions as the Iranian state, and still nothing happened,” he warned. The prosecutor’s office said that the investigation would be resumed, but we hear nothing of it.
Janša is convinced that this has earned someone from 300 to 500 million. “With it, they can repeatedly buy the elections, I doubt that they have managed to use it already, they have bonuses, it’s easy to make new political parties and new governments, to bribe journalists, to keep the media that is bringing big losses – the print media is a bottomless pit”, he said. Therefore, it will be interesting to observe the future attempts at selling NLB. It is past the deadlines for the sale, the new government has not said anything yet, the procedures are supposedly running. There are some signs that a new banking group will be formed, which would be linked to state money, and the business would continue, Janša believes.
A similar story is the state-owned Telekom. During all the years of transition, Telekom was a big power supply for the collapsing LDS Party, later for Zoran Janković and, finally, the SMC Party. They will have to sell Telekom due to pressures from international circumstances. Without a strategic partner, Telekom will sooner or later collapse. However, as we can see, they are already prepared. The license for the 5G network was granted free of charge to the BTC company, which has nothing to do with telecommunications. Two days before the National Assembly elections, Minister Koprivnikar, who is now conveniently a BTC employee, gave the license to BTC. An investigation will show if this deal was made. It is likely that they are working on a new telecommunications operator as their new cash cow. If they protect Koprivnikar, the deal was made, they have a consensus, it is Forum 21 territory.
The unachieved transition in these key areas also generates the current political situation and we feel the consequences. In the election result of June 3d we find the beginning of the end of the so-called new faces in politics deception. These began with the Zares Party – new policy needs new faces, they said. Golobič was supposed to be a new face, some people bought it. They continued with the List of Zoran Janković, Miro Cerar’s Party (SMC) and the List of Marjan Šarec (LMŠ). Janković reached a weak relative majority, Cerar’s list won due to stolen elections, and this year Šarec got about as much as Zares did in 2008 – the curve is returning to the starting point. Now it appears that their electorate will concentrate around the SD Party and the politics of new faces will be exhausted, says Janša, who predicts that we will return to the time when the LDS Party still existed. “The problem with the coalition is its dispersion. Although they have the same color, there are different shades, different lobbies, the battle for the top is considerable, the SD Party has a big advantage, the SMC is decomposing and something similar is happening to the Desus Party, and the LMŠ Party has no influence. They will try to persist for a while, but their time is limited,” said Janša concisely, pointing out that the coalition crisis would show after the European elections, when the problems begin. The forces that pull them apart will play their part, the internal conflicts will become even more intense. Slovenia will go to early elections for the fourth time.
The President of the SDS remains optimistic, predicting an even better result for his party as it continues to do good work and gets on with its activities. The NSi Party could achieve more and, after the recent congress, the SLS Party now has good possibilities to make its return to parliament. Thus, after the next elections, Slovenia will be able to regain a normal right-centered government.
The following speakers were Dr Andreja Valič Zver and Dr Milan Zver, who spoke to participants about the creation of the SDS, the work and life of Dr Jože Pučnik, and of the current European and international politics.
(Source: SDS)