By: Domen Mezeg / Nova24tv
“Of course you will be. And that is why we will tax you accordingly,” the Youth Forum, the youth wing of the Social Democrats party, wrote in response to a post from the Christian radio station, Radio Ognjišče: “We Catholics in the Republic of Slovenia expect to be considered equal members of this society.” Will we Catholics resist this?
Perhaps the unification congress of the Social Democrats party (SD) and the Left party (Levica) should happen even before the autumn elections? Together, they could perhaps fix their miserable results from the last elections and achieve a fantastic breakthrough. Here is our proposal for their new name: the Red Conglomerate. However, we have to admit something about the electricity oligarch Robert Golob: he managed to achieve the consolidation of the electorate and the political space that was once controlled by the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia party (LDS) and its leader, Janez Drnovšek. From all of those more or less non-promising mutations (the List of Marjan Šarec, the Party of Alenka Bratušek, and so on), which were once the strongest parties in parliament, arose a new government, a new hope. A new political messiah arose from that, a new Drnovšek, albeit only ostensibly.
Let us remind you that this is just a political project with a shallow pool of staff and no political mileage… Such unification has not happened before on the hard left, but it would make sense. Even the “old boy,” Milan Kučan, whose “parent party” is the Social Democrats party, has shown agreement with this idea several times recently, albeit indirectly. He confirmed that there is not such a big difference between a social democrat (at heart) and an “anarchist,” by wearing the striking emblem of the Friday’s protest cyclists. He even proudly wore it at the official state celebration. He finally confirmed his position by participating in Friday’s rallies and by singing with one of the unofficial leaders of the protests, Tea Jarc.
He also “gave his blessing” to the ideas and values advocated by the Stalinist Left party, including their attitude towards law enforcement and official authorities. And since Kučan is considered a grey eminence among the social democrats, a political idol and an occasional keynote speaker, it would not be wrong to consider new guidelines that this godfather from the background is setting non-verbally. Or perhaps the time has finally come for a fusion of the strong, traditional, transitional and Metelkova left. The possibility of this happening is also increased by the sharp decline in principles and commitment to the values of the Communist Party.
This is a planned revival of the heated socio-political discourse of the 1990s
Let us remind you of the example of Emilija Stojmenova Duh, a candidate from the SD list in the latest elections who did not manage to get into parliament. Nevertheless, she is already rising to the position of Golob’s Minister of Digital Transformation. And what is most worrying: in the Social Democrats, her calculating and treacherous attitude was greeted with a standing ovation. There do not seem to be any major reservations about the merging of the SD party and the Left. The time of ideological romance and at least apparent political loyalty is over. Only positions and financial bonuses count from now on.
There are also fewer and fewer ideological differences. The SD party is taking over the brutal rhetoric of the “anarchists.” It is practically competing with the Left in announcing new taxes – the latest announcement was directed at the Catholics. This also indicates the intensification of the cultural struggle and the awakening of the socio-political atmosphere of the 1990s. At that time, Radio Ognjišče made a key contribution to the pluralisation of the media space, and since then, it has largely left this role to other alternative media outlets. A certain deactivation of the Church is becoming apparent in public discourse, as well as the abandonment of clear political, ideological positions. That is why the attack of the Youth Forum is an even bigger surprise.
Some want a repeat of the prosecution of Christians who were terrorised by the SD party’s ideological ancestors immediately after the war
Jože Možina, a journalist of the public RTV Slovenia, also shared his opinion on the matter: “The cynical outbreak of young people from the SD party proves that the extremely conservative, aggressive left-wing mentality from the times of the Second World War has survived all three decades of the Slovenian democracy and is still alive to this day. Moreover, today it seems that some people want a repeat of the persecution of Christians, who were called the backbone of the opposition by the ideological ancestors of the SD party, who also persecuted and terrorised them immediately after the war, in every possible way. This post could be considered “stupid,” but it is also dangerous.”
“Needless to say, Catholics in the Republic of Slovenia are very appropriately taxed, but despite this, they still contribute much more to society than others, on average, especially in the field of volunteer work, humanitarian work, and care for cultural heritage. This is a backward revolutionary mentality that does not understand that Slovenians as a nation were born and remained in the European circle of civilisation through Christianity, and it is actually communism that is the ideology which (in the past) took us out of the circle of the most civilised nations.”
They will use ideological themes to divert attention from their incompetence
The statement of the intellectual Dr Žiga Turk, who also commented on the Youth Forum’s statement, is also very telling: “When the government fails to solve current problems, it will use the avant-garde and the Komsomol to attack the class enemy, divert attention and impress its most impatient, undemocratic and authoritarian supporters. Throwing Christians to the lions had a similar purpose.”
It is already obvious that the upcoming government will be ineffective, and the left also knows that. Attacks on Catholics will sooner or later be added to the agenda of these illiberal parties. The only question is whether the Catholics will resist this.