By: Jože Biščak
I will not laugh; I really do not want to stretch my jaw smugly. I admit, I was tempted because the Parliament today looked like a ship of fools.
No one is denying the left wing opposition quartet the right to file constructive no confidence motions and interpellations. This is the foundation of parliamentary democracy, these are the instruments of control and punishment of any government. However, Tanja Fajon, Marjan Šarec, Luka Mesec, and Alenka Bratušek, together with Karl Erjavec, have completely devalued democratic institutions and degraded normal procedures to the level of, as Prime Minister Janez Janša said, destructive farces.
The accusation against this government has failed and the left opposition proved to be a master of creating the unnecessary. The result of the vote was as practitioners expected. But the eternal fanatics, whose hatred for Janez Janša had fried their brain cells, began to threaten not with one, but several repeated attempts immediately after the fiasco.
One way or another, even the discarded ones, like the anarchic-leftists, who waged their fingers on the MPs of the DeSUS and SMC parties in front of the National Assembly that they are observing them and that they will remember them. If we draw parallel lines with events that have been dragging on for months, this can only mean one thing: escalation of intimidation, which will eventually lead to materialised violence. Any normal and peaceful person should be concerned about such a threatening and uncontrollably hysterical atmosphere, which does not only prevail in Metelkova street and other camps of the extreme left, but is moving into the political environment. And back.
Democracy and freedom are not attacked from the side of the government today, today the street and the opposition want to trample them with the help of inflating the media mainstream. This is evidenced by calls to the culture of death and speech codes; everything is ready for everything, everyone is saying goodbye to normalcy, to which they refer to all the time. But the only sober political normalcy today operates on Gregorčičeva Street. Luckily, they keep their heads clear there and try to cool the overheated atmosphere, even though they are constantly being prevented from the truth coming out during the open dialogue.
Dear left wing opposition leaders, your mouth is full of democracy and freedom all the time, you are constantly emphasising the dialogue, we often hear from you that you want to talk. But do you really want to? No matter how many times the leader of the center-right government coalition invited you to talks and cooperation, you rejected him with a policy of exclusion. Who would you like to talk to? It seems like you want a monologue.
It takes two to talk, it takes opposing parties to express their views freely. Ideologically they are on opposite banks, which is understandable and right; if this were not so, we would have the devil’s one-mindedness. But I have a feeling that this is exactly what bothers you – different views from yours. Therefore, you label dissenters (those who have “wrong” ideas and views) with all possible expressions. Your demonization shamefully assumes that some are less human, less important (or insignificant), that they have no right to be different, that they should never rise to power, even if they are election winners. That is why you bear the greatest part of the responsibility that signs calling for death are appearing on the streets and social networks, on the façades of churches, and in the homes of “false” MPs. You are guilty for the romping of “peaceful” protesters who are releasing the darkest human instincts and drives. Not to mention that you have the lion’s share of the credit for spreading the virus.
Now you are where you are. Nobody is making fun of you. You were just defeated. Even though you procrastinated and counted for a ridiculously long time, you tried. And failed. So it is time to quit. At least you who sit in parliament and represent parliamentary democracy. I do not know about those on the street. Maybe they will be going on a trip to Australia to sober up, most of all they need the right diagnosis. I also doubt that the mainstream media will give up the destructive action. They have outgrown manipulation long time ago, now they are openly lying. Their intimidating interrogation questions at press conferences (or elsewhere) to center-right government officials are, as American Conservative columnist and author of Freedom Island, Andrea Widburg, would write, “equivalent to the infamous ‘When did you stop beating your wife’ question. Such a question presupposes that the interrogated person was actually beating his wife.” This is the achievement of today’s progressive journalism – the false assumptions that are wrapped in a question.
Clearly, the progressive trio (mainstream media, anarchist street, and left wing opposition, all three defeated by constructive no confidence vote) need attention, it does not want peace. It is kicking and stumping, it wants control of the situation. Which it does not have. And it cannot have it. That is why it is sending filtered and misleading messages to the public. For example, the last one saying that filers of no confidence vote are moral winners. If they think so, that is fine too. I am not worried one bit as long as it is in their heads, but they can keep the details to themselves because I am not interested in how they came to such an “insightful” conclusion. I am afraid, however, that street art performances will reach new dark depths, that in addition to a protective mask, we will also need Kevlar, carbon fibers, so that those on the “wrong” side will be at least a little safe. And maybe another big Doberman to walk beside us. I am truly afraid of the coming violence of the blind, who are setting new milestones and increasingly blurring the line between peaceful and “peaceful” protests. But materialised violence, whatever it is, should never become another, attractive option, even though it is already becoming mainstream in most media.
Jože Biščak is the editor-in-chief of the magazine Demokracija and the president of the Slovenian Association of Patriotic Journalists.