By: Dr. Tadej Ian
There is something rotten in the land… Slovenia. What happened in the Slovenian parliamentary elections is bizarre and does not happen in normal democracies.
The purpose of this article is not to be angry due to election results. The purpose is also not to offend the work of Slovenian voters, who have chosen what they have chosen for the next four years. The purpose of the article is to place the election result in a broader democratic context and to objectively substantiate that most of the Slovene electorate acted stupidly or crazy. It is true that in a democracy, voters are always right. But it is also true that in a democracy, the people always have the power they deserve. Most do not always act soberly, sensibly, and in their best interests. That is why democracy is dangerous, because by choosing bad or even catastrophic options, voters can cause themselves and everyone else a lot of misery and make life difficult. In a democracy, the people rule. If it rules responsibly and sensibly, a democratic state prospers. But if it rules badly and unreasonably, it shoots itself in the foot.
Slovenian Russian roulette of new faces
The fact that new faces have been winning in Slovenia in the last decade is something incredible and crazy in a democracy. The function of Prime Minister in a parliamentary democracy such as Slovenia’s is the most responsible service in the country. The actions of the Prime Minister and the government he forms affect everyone in the country. They affect the economy and wages. They influence the foreign and domestic policy of the country. They affect the attractiveness of the state for investments, which in the modern world have long been not only domestic, but increasingly foreign or international. They affect how much money will go to social security contributions. They affect how much tax we will pay and where the money from those taxes will go to. The Prime Minister and the government have a lot of power. And with power, one can do a lot of good or cause a lot of bad. That is why voters in mature democracies are very careful about who they trust to run the government and thus the state. Already in the parties they have a very demanding sieve of who can and who cannot rise to the position of party leader, who then becomes a candidate for Prime Minister in the elections. Thus, Prime Ministers in mature democracies are appropriately educated, experienced, and politically seasoned people. The same is true for Ministers, who are also extremely important.
In Slovenia, however, it has become a national political sport that people of dubious origin, deficient or even non-existent political or business experience and/or inadequate education win the elections. That voters entrust the Prime Minister’s position to political illiteracy is playing Russian political roulette. So far, things have turned out relatively well for Slovene voters, and these political newcomers, who founded a victorious political party a few months before the elections, have not caused any catastrophic damage, although the fact that due to the political adventures of a good part of the Slovene electorate we are all at a disadvantage today – to put it very directly: we have less than we could have if the majority of Slovene voters voted reasonably instead of foolishly or crazy.
“Do not fix what works”
The decision of Slovenian voters to dedicate more than a third of all votes to the new political face in 2022 is bizarre now. In the last two years, the centre-right government has distributed to Slovenian citizens, so-called little people, as much money as no other government in the history of independent Slovenia, and its “achievement” in this area will be difficult to repeat. From tourist vouchers, through supplements due to the epidemic and cheaper petrol to lower electricity bills and higher net wages – if ever, then in the past two years, Slovenes have not been able to say that politics does nothing for the little man, which has always been an anti-political battle cry in Slovenia. With the smile on his face during the election campaign, the winner of the recent elections announced that he would take from people instead of continuing to give them, as promised by his only rival, the SDS leader. The first criterion to whom a voter should entrust his vote in a democracy is what and how much the candidate for whom the voter is voting will do for the voter or give to him. Sometimes it is difficult to decide, because the candidates promise a lot and forget about the promises after the election. But in the case of this year’s election, the choice should be childishly easy, as those who have been giving to voters for the last two years have promised to keep giving to them, while their main rival has promised to take it from the voters! The fact that more than every third Slovenian voter voted for the one who promised to take it from him is stupid or crazy.
Giving money to people is not always good in itself if it destabilises this country, e.g., burdens the budget or puts tax pressure on the economy. But the centre-right government, which has given a lot to the people, has achieved economic growth that many richer and more developed countries did not achieve during the global pandemic. On top of everything, these countries became relatively much more indebted than Slovenia. The decision of Slovenian voters to replace a government that works well with someone they do not know and who, in terms of political or the Prime Minister’s work is actually a cat in the sack, is briefly a little unreasonable.
Anyone who thinks that this was primarily an ideological decision of the voters is mistaken, because in addition to the SDS party, there were three other parties in the elections, in which the heirs of the current government were, two of whom were central. Just over a third of voters cast their ballots for the four government parties, while almost the same number of voters voted for the new political face.
Political hysteria is harmful
In Slovenia, this year’s elections were decided by political hysteria created by the left-wing central media and the current political opposition. This political hysteria is very similar to the German political hysteria of the early 1930s, followed by the election of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor. However, the situation in Germany was different then than it is now in Slovenia. As a loser of the First World War, Germany was humiliated and heavily burdened with reparations, which it had to pay to the victors. In addition, like the rest of the world, it was plagued by a severe economic crisis. Hitler promised prosperity to the impoverished nation. After the election, he kept his promises and the standard of the Germans was greatly improved, but a catastrophe followed. In Slovenia, the situation is completely different, as the economic situation is excellent given the pandemic circumstances. The media-constructed political hysteria in Slovenia is therefore completely unnecessary and pushes the country into misfortune due to the madness and stupidity it provokes among the people.
The new Prime Minister will have an almost impossible task ahead of him. It must surpass or equalise the work in the history of the most successful Slovenian government. Unemployment in Slovenia is incredibly low, and the condition of the economy is enviably good, given that we are still in the grip of a pandemic, which is now easing, but this can quickly change. The world is facing an economic crisis in the future, which will probably be very severe, so it is essential that the future government works to the maximum. According to what was heard in the election campaign, it is unlikely that the new government will reach the former government’s knees. Therefore, the new Prime Minister will probably lead us to a catastrophe of great proportions, which Slovenian voters will feel strongly in their lives and wallets. That is what they get for voting irresponsibly but it will educate them. Unfortunately, their fate will be shared by all others who voted prudently.