By: Davorin Kopše
For some time now, Slovenija Television has been showing us the tendentious show Politično with Tanja Gobec. Due to the apparent correction of the impression, two guests are occasionally invited, which is supposed to show political balance. This happened last Sunday, when the host invited Zdravko Počivalšek and Alenka Bratušek. Počivalšek is the type of Minister of the Economy who puts efforts to improve the situation in all economic sectors before politics, while Bratušek is a politician with a strong tendency to rise to positions and eminent functions. When she succeeds (she was even prime minister), she never proves to be someone who achieves results. Her basic feature is weaving new connections for the benefit of herself and repeating a very narrow choice of words.
It is no longer unusual for Slovenia that the media servilely serve left wing politicians, where Alenka Bratušek belongs to. Why was she placed next to the successful Minister Zdravko Počivalšek this time? After the tragic death of SAB MP Franc Kramar, Bratušek became an MP. She wanted this badly, as she was already putting a lot of pressure on Kramar to resign during his serious illness. She did not succeed in this, but she rejoiced at the opportunity when he died. She even went so far as to demand her appointment before the mourning session of the National Assembly in Kramar’s farewell, where she wanted to appear as a speaker more in her rather than in Kramar’s honour. She is also carefully examining in which parliamentary committee she could attract the most attention. The allied media, of course, selflessly came to her aid in warming up the new parliamentary seat.
First, a constructive no confidence vote
This week, the ridiculous and chewed-up topic of constructive no confidence vote against the government came to the fore again. And this with a serious expression on the host’s face. So far, the topic to talk about after the content runs out was weather, however, now this has obviously become the no confidence vote. When asked about the possibility of any of the MPs from his party voting for no confidence, Počivalšek said that it was time for the final counting of votes in parliament and that it was also time for the economy to recover. He added that it was time to end the jokes and to focus on serious topics. He described the SMC as a solid coalition partner.
Bratušek first expressed her opinion that the situation would not have been as it is right now if the government had managed the situation. She used the past tense correctly. The situation was really bad, but the government managed to control it and reverse the trends, a fact that she also could not avoid. She then tried again to flatter the retirees’ again by saying that they are the biggest victims of the epidemic. She still repeats the mistake that also pushes her among the important culprits that retirees were greater victims than they could have been. When she was Prime Minister and otherwise participated in governments, she never did anything for either retirees or their standard of living quality in nursing homes (DSOs). The situation, which has been neglected for decades, was the main reason for many deaths in the DSOs.
It is hard to ignore the stupid claim repeated by Bratušek that young people paid for their absence from physical education with their future. Will the imaginary loss of the future be recouped with the arrival of KUL? Let’s gather our thoughts and remember who makes up KUL and who all are mentioned as ministers in this famous government that will never be. Sick! To make it even more sick, she adds that the MPs who care about the country should support the vote of no confidence and allow the currently leading comedian in the country, Karl Erjavec, to rule. In addition to Alenka Bratušek, the team would also include the failed comedian and politician Marjan Šarec, the coordinator of the Levica party and readers of Karl Marx (who do not understand him) Luka Mesec, and the déjà vu communist of the SD party. I would have squirmed with laughter if it were not serious and stupid at the same time.
Education, future employment, and reflection
The government has focused more on the question of which fields and directions of study to enrol as many students as the previous government. After the consultations, it increased the number of enrolments in faculties where there is a shortage of staff (e.g. medicine) and reduced the number of enrolments in faculties where we have had staff surpluses for years. Of course, everything is done within the deadlines and rules, but the Slovenian opposition is capable of making an affair out of it, which would not be possible without the media. According to Alenka Bratušek, the government could make the same decisions without additional consultations. Of course, the government could make the same decisions as previous governments did and make the same mistakes. But it did not do that. Instead of working with a sleight of hand, this government works thoughtfully on the basis of studies and consultations. Only in this way can we expect results. Alenka Bratušek confirmed that we are approving the strategy in the field of education, but that now is not the time for that. Of course, it is time, it is high time and the opposition is afraid of the success of the government. But what should the opposition fear, if not the successes of the position? That is the essence of everything. Those who have failed in the past with their tried and tested bad methods now blame the new thoughtful approach and ensure that it will ruin the future. Who else believes that?
Rapid tests and testing provision
First, the opposition demanded that everything be opened at once before meeting the conditions of the crisis management strategy. These days, the epidemiological picture in Slovenia has improved so much that it has been possible to start some activities. However, because the government has ordered rapid testing for certain jobs based on the recommendations, there is agitation because it is not possible to test all at once. Some even demand the abolition of testing. Maybe so that the situation would worsen again and the government could be blamed again?
The host gave as a starting point that it is not possible to provide enough rapid tests. Počivalšek assured her that the profession and all resources would be involved in all activities. The army, which has already started its activities in this direction, will also help with the testing, he said. In this part, it turned out that Tanja Gobec has no memory. The lady stated that there were no explanations about the credibility of the rapid tests. A serious accusation and mistake by a journalist who deals exclusively with political issues. As such, she should monitor developments and, if she includes the epidemiological situation in her broadcasts and connects it with political activities, she should monitor all press conferences and other sources of information. Since there is no doubt that as a professional she also does this, we can label her remark as malicious incitement.
Everything around this was explained by dr. Aleš Rozman at a press conference on Wednesday, February 3rd, where he emphasised that we must think strategically and in the long run, which is the only way to control the virus and return to normal life. One of the urgent activities is also rapid field testing with antigen tests. These are less reliable, but they are still an effective tool to help manage the situation, he said. Rapid tests are therefore suitable for rapid and general assessment, where we need reliable results, we need to use reliable PCR tests, but these are significantly more expensive, and we need more time to get to the result. The position is therefore professional and not governmental.
Perhaps the journalist, over all her professional enthusiasm, overlooked the press conference. Ok, we forgive her if that is the case, however, this was not the only press conference at which this was explained. Mario Fafangel, an epidemiologist from the NIJZ, also explained at length about rapid tests, their operation, reliability and effectiveness. So the public knows more about quick tests than a journalist? Obviously so. This is not because she would have nowhere to find out, but because Gobec has no memory if there is a political need for it.
Hatred of the government will not pull us out of the crisis
In Slovenia, the red regime is defending itself by all means. Even after independence, it imposes its way of governing on us, the task of which is to confuse the broad masses of the people so that the incompetent can rule. The greatest threat to these efforts since independence has been the SDS party behind Janez Janša, which strongly opposes this. In the last year, this political force has been particularly strong, as it has been navigating very well in the wild, first in the field of epidemics and pandemics, and on the evidence of consequences also in the fields of health, economy, social affairs and elsewhere. All indicators show that we will emerge from the crisis with better starting points for recovery than many other countries that have been more successful than us so far. This is confirmed by Slovenia’s best credit ratings at the time. This, of course, upsets those structures that have so far wandered around government rooms and other positions of responsibility for too long. The devil just does not die when you cut off his head, but he wags his tail even more. All the contours of the hatred that has shed all its camouflage clothes in recent months and put on an emblem with the inscription KUL are already clear.
At all the events that have taken place in recent years and especially last year, as well as for the recent day of Slovenian culture, I use the poet’s message:
“Let thunder out of heaven
Strike down and smite our wanton foe!
Now, as it once had thriven,
May our dear realm in freedom grow.
May fall the last
Chains of the past
Which bind us still and hold us fast!”
The Slovenian generation has endured many things and will survive even after the last trials!
Davorin Kopše is a conservative politician and former candidate on the joint list of the Slovenian Democratic Party and the Slovenian People’s Party for a member of the European Parliament