By: Peter Jančič (Spletni časopis)
Robert Golob, take responsibility and resign! This was suggested in a written parliamentary question to the Prime Minister by the leader of the SDS parliamentary group, Jelka Godec, because the administrative court found that the government coalition in parliament, at the government’s proposal, unlawfully dismissed the SDH supervisor Leon Cizelj, a well-known physicist and head of the Reactor Physics Department at the Jožef Štefan Institute.
The swift early political dismissal of two supervisors allowed Golob’s government, which had just taken power in 2022, to replace the management of the SDH and consequently the supervisors and directors of several important state-owned companies, including Telekom, thereby gaining influence over the media, where extensive purges were carried out.
Surprisingly, the President of the National Assembly, Urška Klakočar Zupančič, did not prohibit the question calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister this time. In the past, she has done so repeatedly, particularly when the Prime Minister made public statements about the health benefits of veganism. On this topic, Klakočar Zupančič banned a parliamentary question, claiming that it did not pertain to the work of the government and thus questions about the health benefits of veganism were not permissible. At the Bled Strategic Forum, Robert Golob asserted that he cured his asthma by stopping eating meat.
This time, Klakočar Zupančič could have used the excuse that the early unlawful dismissal of the SDH supervisor and the subsequent purge in state-owned companies were decisions made by the MPs of the ruling parties, not the Prime Minister. But she did not choose to do so.
By quickly replacing supervisors and consequently the top of the SDH, the ruling parties gained influence over the media, as they then politically prematurely dismissed the supervisors and management of Telekom, and prematurely replaced the business and editorial leadership of Siol.net. They also secured the influence that Telekom has through advertising and paying fees for broadcasting television programmes. One of the consequences was the reduction of the fee for Nova24TV because it is not aligned with the government.
For the purge at RTVS, since it does not fall under the SDH, they had to further amend the RTVS law. The constitutionality of the purge there, unprecedented in the country’s history, is still being considered by the Constitutional Court, which cannot reach a majority decision on any matter. A majority (at least 6:3) at the Constitutional Court are judges who ideologically lean towards the currently ruling parties. However, two are excluded from deliberation due to personal involvement in the events.
The entire question by Jelka Godec, which Klakočar Zupančič did not ban, about how the government will take responsibility for illegal political appointments in state-owned companies, is as follows:
“The Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia recently ruled that the decision of the National Assembly from June 22nd, 2022, was illegal. It is worth noting that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, led by Dr Robert Golob, proposed the recall of two members of the Supervisory Board of Slovenian Sovereign Holding JSC (SDH) just over two weeks after taking office. Among the recalled members was Dr Leon Cizelj, a renowned physicist and head of the Reactor Physics Department at the Jožef Štefan Institute. The Ministry of Finance, led by Klemen Boštjančič, claimed that Dr Leon Cizelj did not meet the conditions for a member of the supervisory board. Dr Leon Cizelj turned to the court due to the illegal recall. The Administrative Court now, after two years, ruled that the decision of the National Assembly to recall was illegal. This is the first time that a staffing decision of the National Assembly, on the proposal of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, has been officially declared illegal. It should be emphasised that the coalition parties in the Coalition Work Programme 2022-2026, under point I. Community, listed as a priority and goal the restoration of trust and integrity in politicians and holders of public office, to act in accordance with the commitments they made to voters before the election. In the Coalition Work Programme 2022-2026, under point I. Community, as a priority and goal, the following is stated: Restore trust and integrity in politicians and holders of public office, so they will act in accordance with the commitments they made to voters before the election.” Also, in the mentioned point, as a priority and goal, “ensuring political stability and restoring trust in democratic institutions and officeholders, which are the fundamental conditions for the normal functioning of the state and forming a system of government that will be able to eliminate political blockades and crises. This will enable the normal functioning of democratic institutions, respect for the rule of law, actions in the public interest, effective functioning of public services, exercising the right to free economic initiative, ensuring national security, and representing the interests of the state and not individual political parties in the international community.” Among the priorities and goals in the Coalition Work Programme 2022-2026, emphasis is also placed on the rule of law, compliance with judgments, and limiting political influence on staffing and their decisions. The current way and results of the work of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia are far from the promises and goals that the political parties of the ruling coalition promised to the citizens in the area of the rule of law, compliance with judgments, and limiting political influence on staffing, and wrote in the Coalition Work Programme 2022-2026. The current work of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, led by Dr Robert Golob, shows that there are numerous missed opportunities. The government itself is already causing harm to the citizens and the Republic of Slovenia and does not follow the content of the oath of office, to “respect the constitutional order, act according to their conscience, and with all their might work for the well-being of Slovenia (Article 104 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia).” Instead of dealing with development issues, demographics, health care reform, relieving the economy, taxpayers, it is mainly and almost exclusively dealing with staffing and dealing with dissenters, harming public finances, inefficient and uneconomical management of public funds. In this regard, I ask the following:
- How and when will the Government of the Republic of Slovenia take responsibility for the unlawful dismissal of Dr Leon Cizelj, a member of the Supervisory Board of Slovenian Sovereign Holding JSC.
- Given that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia has among its priorities and goals in the Coalition Work Programme 2022-2026 key emphases on the rule of law, compliance with judgments, respect for the rule of law, and limiting political influence on staffing and their decisions, I suggest that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Robert Golob, take responsibility and resign.”