STA, 11 April 2018 - The United Left - Democratic Labour Party (ZL-DSD) presented its election platform on Tuesday, in which it argues that the political and economic system must follow the principles of direct democracy, social market economy and collective forms of ownership of fundamental resources.
The platform, which aims at "protecting the sovereignty of Slovenia", was presented by Franc Žnidaršič, the head of the party uniting the Democratic Labour Party and another former member of the old United Left, called the Fourth Group.
According to Žnidaršič, the party wants systemic changes in the management of state-owned assets, with half of members of management and supervisory boards featuring representatives of employees and trade unions. The ZL-DSD also wants a part of state assets to be transferred to the pension fund.
The party advocates a "fairer tax system" in which taxes on capital, real estate and profit would be higher, and proposes abolition of the golden fiscal rule of balanced budget and introduction of financial police.
It would limit the wage ratio in state-owned companies to 1:5, ban work through temping agencies, and raise the minimum wage to a level which would bring the lowest pension for full-time work above the poverty threshold.
Žnidaršič also called for investments in non-profit apartments and reform of the healthcare system, which would put primary care in focus. The party is committed to zero tolerance to corruption, hate speech and crime, he said.
Simon Brežan of the Fourth Group added that the coalition wanted changes to the election system which would give voters more power in picking candidates, for example with preference vote. He would also like to introduce the option to recall all holders of public office.
ZL-DSD vice-president Gregor Kaplan discussed foreign and security policy, calling for democratisation of the governance of the EU and protection of Slovenia's sovereignty within the bloc. He called for immediate withdrawal from NATO and enforcement of WWII-related debt from Germany.
Jadranka Vesel of the Fourth Group said that the platform also included measures for sustainable farming and zero waste, and stressed that the main transport infrastructure must remain exclusively state-owned.
