STA, 23 July 2021 - Following a report that PM Janez Janša has been holidaying in Mauritius with representatives of the largest healthcare suppliers in Slovenia for years, part of the opposition has demanded a debate in parliament. On the other hand, the prime minister's office noted that Janša had never been on the island when he served as prime minister.
It was reported by the web portal Necenzurirano on Friday that Janša has been holidaying on the exotic island east of Madagascar for almost 20 years, playing golf and socialising with lobbyist Božo Dimnik and entrepreneur Andrej Marčič.
Marčič is the owner and director of the IT company Marand, which together with affiliated companies has generated in the last 20 years more than EUR 100 million in turnover with budget users alone.
Janša's son Žan was reportedly employed in one of his companies for several years, according to Necenzurirano.
Tu je fotografija, ki dokazuje, da predsednik @vladaRS in @strankaSDS Janez Janša že od leta 2003 z največjimi dobavitelji slovenskega zdravstva dopustuje v mondenih letoviščih na otoku Mavricij v Indijskem oceanu.https://t.co/57CzJnqCIU
— necenzurirano.si (@necenzurirano_) July 23, 2021
Dimnik is also an entrepreneur and lobbyist. The company Medias International, which is owned by his daughter Diana, and which sells medical equipment and material, has generated EUR 200 million in turnover with health institutions in Slovenia.
The prime minister's office reacted to the report by telling the STA Janša had played golf in Mauritius several times, "which is publicly known and has been published many times. He was never in Mauritius during the time when he was prime minister."
Necenzurirano noted that the ruling Democrats (SDS), which is headed by Janša, had been publicly warning about systemic corruption in healthcare and forming parliamentary inquiry commissions regarding purchase of medical equipment.
This is what opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) deputy Jerca Korče also noted in her statement to the press, adding that the "SDS has been selling us for all those years the story about tentacles and corruption and cronyism in healthcare."
It is more than obvious that they have only been diverting attention from the fact that they themselves are the core of the deep state," she added.
The LMŠ will thus call a session of the parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission, which according to Korče should look into the deals made at the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic with "one of the golf friends of Prime Minister Janša".
The commission should also establish how the contract with the Secretariat-General of the Government had been concluded, and what impact Janša's holidaying with the supplier had on the conclusion of this contract.
According to Korče, the matter should be also examined by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and the Court of Audit.
The LMŠ deputy said that for someone who has been holding public offices for many years it was "important who are you spending your holidays with and what are the consequences of such holidays".
Korče added that the story featured too many connected facts that one could say that it was only a coincidence.
Violeta Tomić of the Left also announced a strong reaction from the opposition. She said that "always when Janša is in power, public money pours into the pockets of friends and people with the party membership", while at the same time they are establishing inquiry commissions and talking about zero tolerance to corruption in healthcare.
The opposition Social Democrats (SD) meanwhile said on Twitter that it now depended only on New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) "how long the National Assembly will tolerate severe corruption risks".
"Janez Janša making a mockery of the state may be ended either by elections or vote of no confidence. We can only hope that interference in the police has not hampered prosecution of corruption," the party added.
