By: Peter Jančič
Svoboda has devised the sixth way to abuse the majority it holds, preventing the opposition from investigating the unusual dealings of Robert Golob, why state money was secretly transferred to the company of the then journalist Vesna Vuković of Siol.net, why money from GEN-I was directed to the Balkans, and how, as the director of the state electricity trader, he simultaneously dealt with the private company Star Solar.
This time, the opposition tried to ensure that the investigative commission would accomplish something before the parliamentary recess, but Svoboda prevented this by having their MP Tomaž Lah schedule the second session of the investigation for September, ignoring the fact that a third of the commission members had already designated him as a witness in the investigation. Because of this, he should not be leading or participating in the commission’s work, nor delaying it.
Svoboda appointed Lah as the commission’s chairman to delay and hinder the investigation demanded by the state council. If Lah seriously investigated Golob, he would be expelled from the party, just like Mojca Pašek Šetinc was after she allowed Rok Snežič to testify in the commission for investigating right-wing media (she herself stated it was primarily for smearing SDS). Snežič testified about how he introduced the prime minister’s partner Tina Gaber to her ex-partner Klemen Nicoletti, who is known to the public from the Majbert Pharm rapid test company story, for which she promoted a failed cryptocurrency.
Miha Lamut (Svoboda) also experienced the danger of investigating Svoboda. He was dismissed because he failed to defend Golob effectively in the investigative commission examining Golob’s multiple purges in the police.
The SDS proposed Žan Mahnič as the head of the investigation into Golob’s and Svoboda’s dealings, but the ruling coalition firmly rejected him. Mahnič was unacceptable to them because he is competent and experienced. Lah’s scheduling of the session for September marks the sixth manoeuvre to obstruct this investigation during the current mandate. Initially, after the elections, the coalition, with the help of NSi, prevented the investigation, as NSi was not prepared to sign on to investigating SDS. The likely reason was a silent agreement where NSi was given the chairmanship of the budget oversight committee and the intelligence oversight committee, and retained control of several significant state companies, such as DARS. According to the election results and the recommendations of the National Assembly’s professional services, both oversight committees should have been chaired by the much larger SDS. Due to this manipulation, SDS is boycotting participation in both oversight committees, which means there is no serious oversight of the government’s actions in this mandate. This was the goal of Svoboda.
The obstruction of the investigation with NSi failed when Svoboda removed NSi’s director of DARS, Valentin Hajdinjak, prompting the state council, where councillors close to NSi are present, to demand an investigation into Golob’s dealings. Svoboda tried to prevent this with severe pressure, including a special letter from GEN-I’s leadership through the law firm of Mirko Bandelj. However, after a failed podium and a few other complications, the majority of councillors voted for the investigation, marking the failure of Svoboda’s second manoeuvre.
The third attempt to stop the investigation was the decision of Urška Klakočar Zupančič, who blocked the initiation of the investigation within the legally prescribed period, citing serious errors. The state council insisted on not making any corrections, and the parliament ultimately ordered the investigation in an extraordinary session forced by SDS. Klakočar Zupančič’s delaying tactics were successful.
During the period when Klakočar Zupančič was not prepared to call a parliamentary decision on the investigation, she also proposed a swift amendment to the law on parliamentary investigations, which would allow an appeal to the Constitutional Court to delay or even prevent the start of the investigation into Golob and Svoboda. The amendment has not yet been enacted, as the opposition halted this manoeuvre through referendums and similar procedures, and legal experts also questioned whether it could apply to this case.
The fifth manoeuvre was Svoboda’s decision to appoint Lah as the chair to obstruct the investigation into Golob, essentially investigating themselves.
The sixth manoeuvre involves Lah actively preventing the start of the investigation, despite being designated as a witness.
SDS reacted to the latest obstruction of the investigation as follows:
“SDS MPs Rado Gladek and Žan Mahnič spoke at a press conference about the work of the Investigative Committee on the alleged financial draining of the company GEN-I, alleged questionable practices related to the company STAR SOLAR Ltd., alleged illegal financing of the political party GIBANJE SVOBODA, and alleged illegal financing of the GIBANJE SVOBODA election campaign for the regular parliamentary elections in the Republic of Slovenia in 2022, and the announcement of the suspicion of a criminal offense by MP Tomaž Lah.
In the introductory part, MP Gladek outlined the sequence of events. On June 12th, 2024, the first urgent session of the investigative committee took place, with two agenda items on the committee’s constitution and work agreement. After completing the first item, the members of the committee from the Slovenian Democratic Party submitted a proposal for an evidentiary order and a proposal for the execution of preparatory investigative actions. In the evidentiary order, proposed by more than a third of the MPs, they listed the witnesses they wished to hear. Among them was the committee chair, MP Tomaž Lah, who thus can no longer be a member, let alone the chair of the committee. Tomaž Lah rejected this proposal, so the SDS committee members did not participate in the continuation of the session. Rado Gladek, as the committee’s vice-chair, informed the chair of the mandate-election committee, Janja Sluga, on the same day that Tomaž Lah was no longer the committee chair. He called on her to carry out all formal procedures to appoint new members to the investigative committee and thus enable its uninterrupted operation.
Given that both Tomaž Lah and the chair of the mandate-election committee ignored all requests to establish normal committee operations, Gladek, as the vice-chair, personally delivered the document for the convening of the 2nd urgent session of the investigative committee to the committee’s professional services on July 9th. On July 10th, Tomaž Lah sent a letter stating that the vice-chair’s convening was irrelevant. On July 11th, Lah scheduled the first regular session of the investigative committee for September 18 of this year. According to the above, this is a violation of the law on parliamentary investigation, the parliamentary investigation rulebook, and the National Assembly’s rulebook with the aim of delaying and obstructing the committee’s work. “This is evidently an attack on democracy,” Gladek criticised. Therefore, on Friday, July 12th, SDS MPs, who are members of the investigative committee, filed a notification of the suspicion of a criminal offense by Tomaž Lah for abuse of official position or negligence in service with the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Ljubljana and the Police.
MP Mahnič further pointed out that under the leadership of Gibanje Svoboda in the government and parliament, no laws or regulations are respected anymore. “The main perpetrator of these violations is now the former chairman of the investigative committee, Tomaž Lah, who still illegally holds the position of chairman, which is unlawful and against the law.”
Mahnič emphasised that the Slovenian Democratic Party adheres to the law and regulations, which is why MPs filed a one-third request. “The regulation is clear here. The one-third request is equivalent to the result of a vote,” Mahnič pointed out. “The Law on Parliamentary Investigation states that an MP cannot participate in an investigative committee if they are a subject of investigation or a witness in the matter being investigated.” Therefore, Tomaž Lah can no longer be the chairman because he is a witness. “The District State Prosecutor’s Office and the Police will quickly determine that MP Lah has violated all the laws, the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, and the Rules of Parliamentary Investigation. And further: “There is only one goal. To protect the deeds and mafia dealings of Robert Golob and all those involved. This can only be done by obstructing the work of the parliamentary investigative committee. We want to investigate this; they want to obstruct it, but in the end, the court will recognise what this matter is about,” Mahnič concluded.”