By: P.T., STA
The Janez Janša government survived a motion of no confidence as only 40 MP voted in favour in a secret ballot on Monday, six too few. There were seven votes against and six invalid ballots, whereas the majority of the coalition MPs abstained.
The motion was filed by five centre-left opposition parties, which nominated Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) leader Karl Erjavec for prime minister.
The coalition highlighted the government’s achievement in a difficult period and accused the leftist parties of trying to abuse the coronavirus epidemic for political gain.
Janša said the government had done much more than the previous one despite the harsh epidemiological situation. He called the motion a “destructive farce”.
Janša, commenting on Twitter, said the National Assembly had finally done the tallying and determined that not even all members of the Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL) were in favour of the motion, adding the hashtag “meagre40”.
The partners in his coalition emphasised that it was now time to continue working after needlessly expending energy on this motion.
Modern Centre Party (SMC) leader Zdravko Počivalšek said on Twitter: “Now we could at least try to join forces for the serious challenges before us. Let’s overcome the bad feelings and create the foundations for a different politics.”
New Slovenia (NSi) leader Matej Tonin said the outcome made it clear that the government was strong. “Our work is directed towards containing the spread of the epidemic, to provide healthcare accessible to all, and to strengthen the economy.