Šarec Calls on Centre-Left to Propose Single Candidate for Speaker

By , 21 Jun 2018, 17:56 PM Politics
Marjan Šarec speaks with reporters on June 3 Marjan Šarec speaks with reporters on June 3 Marjan Šarec' Facebook page

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STA, 21 June - The five centre-left parties are yet to agree on the candidate for the speaker ahead of Friday's maiden session of parliament with Marjan Šarec telling reporters on Thursday that several names were at play. 

All our election coverage can be found here, while our profiles of the major parties are here.

Coming out of talks with his potential coalition partners, Šarec, whose party came second in the 3 June election, said that talks would resume on Friday morning ahead of the maiden session.

He believes that an interim speaker should be appointed on Friday.

Šarec would not name all the potential candidates for the speaker, but said that several were acceptable for his LMŠ party, including Miro Cerar, the outgoing PM and leader of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), and the outgoing speaker Milan Brglez, also an SMC member.

However, if this were a solution to secure the necessary majority of 46 votes, the LMŠ would be willing to put forward its own candidate, despite assertions to the contrary in the past few days.

Šarec said that he would not be the candidate nor would Brane Golubovič, the only LMŠ deputy who has served as MP before.

Šarec believes that it would be logical if the centre-left parties put forward a joint candidate for the speaker. "If there isn't a sole candidate, there's no point," he said, adding the parties were agreed on that in principle.

He attributed the failure to agree on the name of one candidate for the speaker today to the fragmentation of parliament. "It's normal that everyone wants to offer their own candidate."

The meeting also featured the leaders of the SMC, Social Democrats (SD), Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Alenka Bratušek Party, but they did not speak to reporters after the meeting in Kamnik.

Šarec also met the Left separately earlier this week, but the party was not invited to the joint meeting today, while it is not clear who will attend the meeting tomorrow morning.

The Left could contribute the votes needed to muster sufficient majority to appoint the speaker and some information indicates that they might be willing to back Brglez.

After the first such joint talks, Šarec has the feeling that there is willingness to cooperate should the relative election winner, Janez Janša, fail to form a coalition.

Asked whether he believed no party would take solo action, he answered that he had no such guarantee.

Before the government session today, SD leader Dejan Židan said his party would not be "stubborn and will not jeopardise the coalition".

According to him, the SocDems will not insist on their own candidate for the speaker, even though the post as a rule falls to the second largest coalition partner.

Židan said that "it is the job of all party leaders to put their egos on ice for a while".

DeSUS leader Karl Erjavec was hopeful the meeting today would be the first in a series of rounds leading to a deal not only on the speaker but also on a future government.

 

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