By: Zala Tomašič
Preliminary elections for the National Assembly took place in 2018. There the SDS party convincingly won, receiving more percent of vote than the second (Lista Marjana Šarca Party) and third (SD party) parties combined. Nevertheless, after the elections, Marjan Šarec formed a minority government – with parties that received even less support in the elections than he did – and which, as expected, fell apart before the next regular elections, just as the epidemic began. These might be boring and well-known facts, but given the current situation they are apparently misunderstood or forcibly forgotten. This shows the real absurdity of today’s situation and despair, lust for power, and above all the illegitimacy of the KUL coalition.
Tanja Fajon is hard to overlook. She is literally everywhere, but ironically perhaps not enough in Brussels in her actual role as an MEP. As an elected MEP, she represents the legislative branch of the European Union, however, lately instead of doing her job in Brussels, she seems to be more concerned with overthrowing the legitimate and successful Slovenian government without any good reason. Even when she is in Brussels, she is mostly occupied with the current Slovenian government. It seems like she is never late to any meetings of the opposition quartet, and in any way, no matter what, she wants to overthrow the current government and form a new one – but she does not want to do this through elections, she would rather just demand authority.
Alenka Bratušek was not even elected in the National Assembly, and her party received under 5 percent of support. Despite this apparent political defeat, she persists in politics in every way and is now even forming a new government. Voters did not want her as an MP, so why does she imagine they want her in the government? It is conceited and absurd that she dares to overthrow the current government and establish a new one with such low voter support – with 5 times less support than SDS and its president received in the elections.
I do not even want to waste my words on Luka Mesec and Marjan Šarec. They are both characters for themselves and despite the fact that KUL coalition excels in irrationality, the contradictions and hypocrisy of Marjan Šarec and Luka Mesec surpass everything. It seems like all that the “center” party of Marjan Šarec needed to abandon its principles and start cooperating with the extreme left was a common enemy, which in this case is personified by the SDS party. Let’s remember how all the “center” parties claimed that SDS party was too extreme when it won the elections and invited them to coalition negotiations. And the most extreme party in Slovenian politics, i.e. Levica clearly seems to not be problematic.
It is difficult to choose the greatest absurdity of the leaders of the opposition, or the KUL coalition. However, for their greatest stupidity I must crown their latest idea – they would appoint Karl Erjavec as Prime Minister. No, that’s not a joke. The opposition actually thinks that Karl Erjavec – a man who withdraw from politics forever when he was not re-elected as party president in the first half of the year, the most pragmatic and least principled politician in Slovenian history and the current president of the party that barely made it to the parliament, a man with whom even DeSUS party’s MPs disagree – should become the prime minister. I rarely run out of words, but this made me speechless.
Lately, it often happens that I hear some news that makes me laugh almost to tears until I realise it’s not a joke. Then this news quickly stops being funny. Too many politicians are unaware that their ideas have real consequences for other people’s lives. And despite being in the opposition, they are incapable of accepting defeat, recognising legitimate government and cooperating constructively with it, by no means do they deserve to rule as a coalition. Being in a coalition is not a right, it’s a privilege. And the prime minister cannot just be anyone. Especially not someone who gets so little support. Similarly, the coalition cannot be made up of party leaders who received so little support – this is not democratic.
Zala Tomašič is a postgraduate student of international relations at King’s College London.
