President Pahor’s candidate for the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia did not receive the necessary support in the National Assembly. According to international media, Šarec’s “minority” government fails its first test.
The candidate, Primož Dolenc, was proposed to the National Assembly by the President of the Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor. Dolenc secured only 30 MP votes, which is insufficient for his appointment.
The support for Dolenc was announced only by the SD, SMC and Desus Parties. Furthermore, the vote was held by secret ballot. Bloomberg notes “this was the first major test of the minority government of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec.” The test that the “minority” government of six parties failed at. After the failed appointment of Dolenc, President Pahor has already invited new candidates to apply in the next three weeks. The President’s office announced that “after the assessment of the candidates and the consultations with the parliamentary groups, in the shortest time possible, the President will nominate a new suitable candidate for a vote in the National Assembly “.
Corruption, Cheap Politics, Bad Leadership
The former Bank of Slovenia Governor Boštjan Jazbec resigned in May in the midst of a police investigation into the role of the central bank in the resolution of state-owned banks in 2013, when the bank losses of 3.2 billion euros were covered by taxpayers. One important task of the new governor will be the assessment of the reimbursement attempt by a group of investors, in favor of a legal amendment that would allow them a reimbursement of the money they lost when the state wrote off part of the debt to the state-owned banks Abanka and NLB.