During the pandemic, the National Institute of Public Health (Nacionalni inštitut za javno zdravje – NIJZ) failed completely, thanks to its political leadership, so it comes as no surprise that during the time of Janez Janša’s Government, it has assumed the role of an anti-Government propaganda machine. For a long time now, this institution has served the deep state as a repository for failed political personnel, including the current acting Director Ivan Eržen, who participates in the Social Democrats’ (SD) party events, and was previously the State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, led by then-Minister Borut Miklavčič. The media have even mentioned that he was a candidate for an MP on the failed LDS’s list. Eržen is leading the NIJZ with a firm hand, even introducing “Stalinist” measures; in order to stifle different opinions of the experts, he has already forbidden NIJZ employees from communicating with the media and the public. Former NIJZ Director Nina Pirnat is also a prominent member of the SD party and a failed politician.
At the time of a pandemic of the novel coronavirus, the National Institute of Public Health has failed completely. During the time of Marjan Šarec’s Government, they primarily acted as an extension of his public relations team, but now, during the time of Janez Janša’s Government, they have had a change of heart. They have begun to act as an anti-Government propaganda machine as they continue to criticize all the measures taken by the Government to curb the new coronavirus. It has even come so far, that the acting director of NIJZ Ivan Eržen is participating in the Social Democrats’ party propaganda events, where he speaks ill of the Government’s work in the company of SD’s most extreme members.
Eržen was the State Secretary at the Ministry of health and an MP candidate on the failed LDS’s list
The leadership of NIJZ has, of course, received all the support of the regime’s media, but what is becoming more clear with each day, is that the main purpose of the institution is to enable the deep state to drop its spent and failed political personnel there. Eržen is also a failed former politician. In 2008 he was the State Secretary at the Ministry of Health during the time of Borut Pahor’s Government, when Borut Miklavčič was the Minister of Health. In 2011 he was a candidate on the list of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia at the early elections to the National Assembly. As we all remember, LDS did not manage to enter the National Assembly back then.
The radical Eržen is leading the NIJZ with a firm hand and introducing Stalinist measures
It seems that in recent years, Eržen has become even more radicalized, just like the SD party he is close to. In his work as acting Director, he has already introduced some Stalinist measures. As the head of the Koper NIJZ Regional Unit, Milan Krek, revealed at a Government’s press conference on Monday, the institution has recently been closing itself off from the public, and the employees have been banned from communicating with the media and the public. “There are a lot of great professionals working at my Institute, where I have been employed for years. And they can not be heard at the time, because we are not allowed to appear in the media,” Krek said. It seems likely that the leadership of NIJZ wants to silence the experts whose opinions differ from that of the management.
Former NIJZ Director Nina Pirnat is a prominent member of the SD party and a failed politician
Former Director of the NIJZ, Nina Pirnat, who kept assuring everyone until the very last minute that there was no reason to panic, is a prominent member of the SD party. She was once the State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, and during the time of Alenka Bratušek’s Government, she was even a candidate for the Minister of Health. She was appointed to the post of Director of the NIJZ by Miro Cerar’s Government.
The advice that NIJZ gave to Šarec was damaging; if the measures were adopted 14 days earlier, the epidemic could have been significantly curbed
Doctor Alenka Forte recently commented on the current situation at the web portal Nova24TV: “If the measures that were introduced by Janša’s Government immediately after the start of their term in office would have been adopted fourteen days earlier, the epidemic in Slovenia could be significantly curbed. Instead, Šarec kept on constantly repeating the EU’s recommendations, like a parrot. He also relied on the recommendations made by the leaders of the National Institute of Public Health, which we can now see were not appropriate, but rather harmful. A very serious problem, however, is that the healthcare professionals all over Slovenia don’t have adequate personal protection, because the previous Government did not adopt the appropriate measures to purchase protective equipment.« And thus, we have recorded 1,021 infections with the novel coronavirus, which has already caused 30 deaths in Slovenia so far.