By: Jelka Godec
At last week’s extraordinary session of the National Assembly, the President of the National Assembly, Urška Klakočar Zupančič brutally attacked the SDS parliamentary group. In her speech, she insulted MPs, told lies, and publicly encouraged intolerance and spread hate speech. The SDS parliamentary group addressed a letter of protest to the President of the National Assembly, which is published below.
Dear Urška Klakočar Zupančič, President of the National Assembly,
At the extraordinary session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, which took place yesterday, June 1st, 2022, we witnessed a rough showdown with the Parliamentary Group of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). In your speech, you indecently and insultingly attacked some members of the Slovene Democratic Party, told lies, and publicly encouraged intolerance and spread hate speech.
As President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, you are the first among equals, but the fact is that your responsibility in the light of maintaining the reputation of parliament and the level of political communication is much greater and more exposed to public scrutiny. The public you like to refer to expects you to respect everyone, whether you are politically close to them or not. Leading by example is an old wisdom that should never be forgotten, but above all not trampled on by uncontrolled outbursts of anger and incitement to intolerance and hatred towards dissenters.
“My first task is to get cultural and respectful public communication back into the National Assembly, it can be harsh but well-argued and never, never personally offensive,” you said on May 13th, 2022, as President. Have you forgotten the words you said after less than a month in office?
You have accused us of sarcasm and cynicism, even though you were the one who was sarcastic and cynical in your performance yesterday. You spoke of rejection, illegality, and unconstitutionality on our part, and at the same time you called for the violation of the law by stopping misdemeanour and criminal proceedings against protests that were not reported in accordance with the law. You have also allowed yourself to tell lies. It was really shocking when you talked about the fact that the previous government gassed people. Do you even know what you said? Are you not aware of all the tragedy and pain of such acts during World War II?
In the SDS Parliamentary Group, we expect your apology for all insults and lies. We also expect that you will have a respectful and correct attitude towards the 27 MPs of the Slovenian Democratic Party, who legally and legitimately represent almost 300,000 voters in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
Source: SDS