Nation, family, religion, private property and private education are not some pre-modern concepts, but they are the values that the modern world still very much needs. The parties that stand for them are the future of Slovenia and of the normal world.
The electoral congress of the Slovenian People’s Party (SLS) was held in Novo mesto. The President of the SDS Party Janez Janša attended the congress and addressed the gathered delegates. His speech is published below.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the first president, former party presidents, the future president of the party. Thank you very much for giving me the honor to greet you.
In recent Slovenian history, some events took place, which felt like they could make a difference. I am happy here among you today because I have a similar feeling. It was just said on this podium that the Slovenian People’s Party was the first swallow of the Slovenian spring. That’s right. On May 12, thirty years ago, I enrolled in the Slovenian Farmers Union, because it was the first non-party political organization that grew up in those lush times at the beginning of the blooming of Slovenia’s spring.
Thirty years ago, in the Union Hall, it could be felt that the changes were coming, but the feeling was not enough. Considerable efforts had to be made and SLS made them. In those times, such things as the sovereignty and democratization of Slovenia, would not have been possible without the SLS – a solid partner of the Demos. In politics, as you all know, there are times of good growth and abundance of fruits, but there are times of frost as well. All parties of the former Demos have experienced this, including the SLS. The fact that you are here today, however, that you have achieved all that was necessary in order to call this congress, shows that the seeds planted in May of 1988 were deep enough, that the frost could not get to them. And this is one such happy lesson learnt in these modern times in Slovenia, where such lessons are few. This is a great prospect for the future.
I join in the congratulations made by Manfred Weber and Joseph Daul. As a member of the European People’s Party’s party and Vice President of the Centrist Democrat or Christian Democrat International, I would like to say that a program such as yours and a program, such as the one of the other members of these two links, is by far not something that is passing, something that is pre-modern, something that is not in keeping with modern trends. It is true that some 170 years ago a well-known communist manifest was created – the Bible of evil, which states that for the realization of this utopian model, the nation, family, religion, private property and private education must be destroyed. When they tried with bayonets, it failed. For the past decade, it has been tried in a softer way and this is the main political global conflict underway. Every party that has in its program the awareness that it is derived from the people, every party that protects the family, and any party that advocates respect for private property, competition in education and freedom of religion, is in this global battle an entity that the modern world still very much needs. In short, this is not something that is lagging behind, but something that is still much more modern today, than when it seemed that these values were self-explanatory and no one seemed to threaten them.
Often, especially when we jointly participated in government coalitions and we cooperated three times successfully, the main complaints were about the smaller parties, labeled as becoming SDS satellites. But as you are all well aware, of the recent Slovenian democratic history of the past thirty years, you know that in the so-called right wing of the political space, which I call the original democratic side, there were never any satellites. The satellites are somewhere else. I think that there are currently 6 of them in a government composition that will disintegrate because they do not have a planet, because satellites alone just cannot hold on to one another indefinitely. Additionally, if you only have satellites, sooner or later you will run out of energy, the batteries get emptied and they disappear. We do not build in this way.
In the Slovenian political landscape, the SDS would like to have political parties that are sovereign, parties that decide their own fate, parties which do what their members decide to do, parties that are able to coordinate, parties that are not afraid of coalition partners because of the fear that the media could destroy them. Parties based on the Slovene nation, Slovenian values, and not based on the mercy of capital, judiciary repression or the repression by state banks and companies. Such parties are the future of Slovenia and of every normal country. SLS is a party that has its roots, since the very beginning, in these values. After these years of frost, I think that the spring will come for SLS, we all wish for it, Slovenia will be different then.
I wish you a successful and fruitful work at this congress, congratulations in advance to the future President elect, and to the Slovenian People’s Party as a whole. I wish you an excellent result in the upcoming local elections, a successful appearance, and at the very least the same result at the European elections as in the previous ones. And a triumphant return to the Slovenian Parliament, where SLS belongs since the very beginning.
Thank you very much.”
