The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 13 March 2020

Mladina: Hoping for the best with Janša & COVID-19 far-right govt amid major crisis

STA, 13 March 2020 - Mladina says the hearings for ministerial candidates have shown Slovenia is getting a far-right government, the assurances of the coalition's two centrist parties notwithstanding. The left-wing weekly hopes new PM Janez Janša will live up to his reputation as a master of states of emergency, something he failed to do in 2012.

Editor in chief Grega Repovž starts by highlighting statements that Slovenia would try to join the Visegrad Group - "composing countries that pursue backward policies, interfere in the judicial branch, persecute the media and intellectuals and reject minorities" - that new fences will be erected on the Croatian border and that it would make sense to include members of an extremist group into the Slovenian army.

Repovž says that the Modern Centre Parts (SMC) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) did not even wince in the face of such announcements by the ministerial candidates of the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), confirming the extreme candidates as appropriate and good.

This is happening as the world and Slovenia are facing one of the worst situations imaginable, says Repovž who hopes that these people with questionable views will nonetheless be capable of trusting the public sector in this situation and not use the circumstances to generate additional crises.

This will mostly depend on Janša, who has a reputation of thriving in states of emergency, but the past has shown "that it is in precisely such circumstances that this man creates panic and increases pressure time and time again".

"The last time we witnessed this was during the 2012 financial crisis, when he neglected serious economic polices to instead paint new disaster scenarios on a daily basis and portray the economy - which was struggling, banks included - as bankrupt," Repovž says in Janša Govt in Times of Anxiety.

Arguing it was his inexperienced successor Alenka Bratušek who actually protected Slovenia from the Troika, Repovž says one can really not say Janša performs well in such situations.

"But this does not mean we are not hoping things will be different this time around. After all, lives are at stake, to quote Janša himself."

Repovž goes on to urge the public to remain watchful of the actions of power holders, who often abuse extreme situations for steps that have a long-term impact on society and its prosperity.

This goes for politicians but also for international capital, which definitely sees the crisis as an opportunity to take over troubled companies and sectors. Whatever the government may be, it currently needs to act very prudently.

"That being said, Slovenia is short of experts in all areas and if Janša picks them on the basis of political affiliation, their numbers will be even smaller."

All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Reporter: Počivalšek won over Šarec

STA, 9 March 2020 - The right-wing weekly Reporter says in its commentary on Monday that the Modern Centre Party (SMC) head Zdravko Počivalšek had the best poker face in the game that has just played out in Slovenian politics and will soon see a new government taking over.

It is an art to persuade competitors that one has a good hand of cards when in fact the opposite is true and outgoing Prime Minister Marjan Šarec failed to do this.

He could not persuade Počivalšek that early elections were the best solution. "Počivalšek is the better bluff and even though he as well had a poor hand, he demolished Šarec."

Soon, Janez Janša will become prime minister a third time, but this would not have been possible without Počivalšek.

"Počivalšek is [the government's] main political godfather and he will de everything necessary for this government to remain in for the next two years, until regular election."

The question about what is behind Počivalšek's decision to switch sides, if anything at all, remains unanswered for now. "It is fact that Janša came to power very easily," the paper says, wondering whether this was really the consequence of MPs working to preserve their positions.

"Also because the network of [former President Milan] Kučan, Forum 21, is allegedly in shambles, even though Janša has recently been raging on twitter that this was not the case."

The paper says that Počivalšek may not be any more than a pawn of "the so called deep state". "To allow Janša to take power for a short while so that he will then be more easily defeated in election."

Under the headline Poker Face, the weekly says that estimates about the duration of this government vary greatly, indicating that estimates like these are often far off the mark.

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 6 March 2020

Mladina: Šarec, Mesec not to blame for Janša's rise to power

STA, 6 March 2020 - The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest editorial that blaming the Left and the Marjan Šarec List for Janez Janša's rise to power would be easiest. But the fact is that the two parties acted exactly as they were expected.

Luka Mesec of the Left and Marjan Šarec could have kept the outgoing coalition alive for a while longer to prevent the forming of the Janša government by making constant concessions to capital, but in the end, they would undoubtedly be the losers.

What happened now would happen at the next election at the latest, says editor-in-chief Grega Repovž under the headline Šarec and Mesec Are Right.

What caused the collapse of the outgoing coalition was the August 2019 proposal to abolish top-up health insurance. "The minute the Left proposed the law that would actually implement what was written in the coalition agreement, the entire coalition was up in arms.

"That was when not only the coalition but also the LMŠ fell apart, as both most important ministers from Šarec's party (finance minister and health minister) opposed the law. Because they deemed it ideologically unacceptable."

The neo-liberal parties in government immediately voiced opposition to the proposal: the SMC, SAB, even the SD complained, but hopefully only because the Left tabled the proposal, Repovž says.

Parties started calculating and MPs realised they might lose their jobs. The government did not collapse because of stubbornness of Mesec or Šarec's incompetence but because of clear ideological differences within the coalition and the LMŠ, Repovž claims.

It was a typical clash between the left and right, those who favour public health and those who want to privatise healthcare.

Parties picked sides very clearly: the SDS, NSi, SAB, SMC, DeSUS and the SNS stood to defend capital and the wealthy. "Yes, the SAB is on the list too and is not in the SDS-led coalition today only because Janša will never forget that he had to hand over the PM post to Alenka Bratušek in 2013."

The LMŠ closely escaped being put on this list as well, mainly thanks to its deputy group. People such as outgoing Finance Minister Andrej Betroncelj could have easily prevailed in the party but when they did not, departures started and Šarec was left in a position when all he could do was to resign.

"It is without a doubt terrible that Slovenia got a government led by a far-right politician. The price will be high. But in the last election we simply elected mostly the parties and MPs that see politics merely as a means to satisfy their own interests and the interests of the capital ... But at least now they are together and are no longer hiding behind the Left and the LMŠ."

Demokracija: Centre-right alliance will last for years

STA, 5 March 2020 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija is confident in its latest editorial about the firmness of the new centre-right coalition, saying cooperation between centrist and right-wing parties is "much more natural than an alliance between far-left radicals, socialists (masked as socdems), and alleged liberals".

Demokracija's editor-in-chief Jože Biščak says coalition infighting had indeed been among the reasons for the resignation of outgoing PM Marjan Šarec, but the changes at the helm of the Modern Centre Party (SMC) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) were crucial for what followed.

Biščak says their former Presidents Miro Cerar and Karl Erjavec "were increasingly openly flirting with socialists ideology, while Zdravko Počivalšek and Aleksandra Pivec immediately started moving their parties back to the centre and liberal values".

Thus Biščak believes Počivalšek and Pivec's claims "that the time lost with an election would have had disastrous consequences for Slovenia over media assertions that they are saving their parties from being erased from the political arena in a snap election".

While criticising last Friday's rally organised against the new coalition as a sign "we are sinking back into a totalitarian world", Biščak is confident that the new coalition is ideologically firm, up to the task, and has a good chance of making it until the end of the term.

"Even more. There are signs emerging on the horizon of a firm coalition between liberal and right-wing parties after the 2022 election," Biščak says in the commentary entitled Sorry for Even Existing.

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 28 February 2020

Mladina: Public will keep a close eye on Janša

STA, 28 February 2020 – The left-wing weekly Mladina puts the pending power shift in Slovenia in the context of a nationalist-populist wave that gripped Europe in 2015. It issues a scathing criticism of the Democrats (SDS) and those about to enable a Janez Janša government, saying they are foolish to think Janša has changed his ways and that the Slovenian public will stand by quietly.

The weight of the decision that MPs face next week as parliament will vote on the new government "is much bigger than they are willing to admit to themselves", the weekly's editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says in the commentary entitled The Public is Watching and Remembering.

"They are being calculated in their actions, but it seems they are not really aware they will carry the consequences of their decision for the rest of their lives," he says, arguing the MPs know very well what Janša's Democrats (SDS) are about.

Repovž equates the SDS with "hatred, a giant factory of lies, constant and grave elimination of those not sharing their views, overt racism and exclusion".

"Many people and institutions have for years been living under this pressure and this has left Slovenian democracy deeply wounded," Repovž says, speaking of year after year marked by inciting of hatred, attacks on scholars, culture workers, media, individual journalists.

"Of course there was also abuse of power, the circumvention of laws (for instance those governing the funding of parties from abroad), and last but not least corruption and all kinds of dodgy manoeuvres with cash, including the inability of the party's president to explain the origins of his."

Repovž says that statements by MPs and party leaders show they know exactly who they are putting in power and thus they also know what Slovenian society will go through because of their decision.

He argues that they may be trying to convince themselves that there will be no culture war and ideological attack on society this time around, but notes that these already started before the coalition agreement was signed and that there has been too much of this for any politician serious about democracy to swallow.

"There is one habit that Slovenian politicians are simply incapable of losing: they keep underestimating the public and treat citizens as small children that can be fooled with stupid tricks. Well, these citizens have shown too often now how they feel about this arrogant attitude of the elite and how to demonstrate this sentiment."

Reporter: "Deep state" wants Janša in power

STA, 24 February 2020 - Reporter, the right-leaning political magazine, believes the "deep state" is the force slotting the pieces together to result in a new Janez Janša government. "Janša is literally being gifted his third government by the deep state," it says in Monday's commentary.

Arguing that the Left, "the party most strongly led by the deep state", is the main reason why the Marjan Šarec government came crashing down, Reporter says that "if it was in the interest of old networks to prevent Janša's renewed ascent to power, they could probably have done that."

"Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back to then take two steps forward. The Communists had successfully deployed these tactics thirty years ago, during the change of political system and independence, when they temporarily gave up power so that two years later, dressed up as social democrats and liberals, they could return," the commentator says.

Now the deep state wants to let Janša carry out some urgent but unpopular measures, just like his government did eight years ago, counting on people rebelling for "a new episode of pan-Slovenian popular uprisings". Two years later, the left can then return to power even stronger, the paper says in Gift by the Deep State.

All our posts in this series are here, while all our stories on Janez Janša are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 21 February 2020

Mladina: SDS puts autocratic tendencies on open display

STA, 21 February 2020 - The left-wing weekly paper Mladina argues in its latest editorial that unlike in the past, the Democrats (SDS) do not even bother to conceal the wolf hiding under their sheep's clothing, immediately revealing their revenge-driven, arrogant and autocratic view of politics and the state.

Things got real much sooner than expected, Mladina's editor-in-chief Grega Repovž says, highlighting the threat issued by SDS MP Žan Mahnič to Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar as well as SDS head Janez Janša's statement that the SDS was discussing the editorial policy at the left-leaning daily Dnevnik.

"Coming from any other politician, this would perhaps be understood as a (bad) joke. But not with Janša. Because he already did this. And is doing it," Repovž says in Has the Election Campaign Already Begun?.

"He is interfering in the media all the time, if needed he will sell the nation's silverware (retailer Mercator in exchange for influence on the papers Večer and Delo) or even his own political sovereignty (he did it when he took millions from Hungary to build a media empire)," Repovž says.

Mladina's editor speaks of Janša's obsession with the media and his blaming of allegedly exclusively left-oriented media for his failures, while pointing out that Janša's term at helm of the SDS has been the longest among any heads of serious political parties in Europe.

Repovž argues that the latest developments are only a repeated demonstration of what makes the SDS a party that no serious democratic party is able to cooperate with.

He then turns to the Modern Centre Party (SMC), which he says will make the unoriginal mistake of entering an SDS-led coalition only to gradually disappear while giving absolutely everything to Janša - the latter will in turn say thank you and go to an early election.

Reporter: Deep State & Janša

STA, 17 February 2020 - Reflecting on Janez Janša's chances to form a government this term, the latest editorial of the right-leaning weekly magazine Reporter speculates that a short-lived Janša government may be in the interest of the deep state.

Under the headline Coincidental Prime Minister-Designate, editor-in-chief Silvester Šurla writes that Janša, the leader of the Democrats (SDS), probably has a better chance forming a government now than after an early election unless the balance of power between the left and right changed substantially.

Being that the ballot to appoint PM-designate is secret and that many MPs are "trembling about where to find new jobs", Janša should not have difficulty securing 46 votes.

"The problem could emerge later; the new government, like the Šarec cabinet would be in the draught all the time. Janša (...) is probably aware of that. It is obvious he desires immensely to be prime minister, the question is whether also at all cost.

"Even more than Janša, a new government is desired by SMC [Modern Centre Party] leader Zdravko Počivalšek (...) polls show it would be hard for the SMC to make it to parliament in a snap election, so Počivalšek is hoping to enhance the party under Janša."

Šurla finds that the biggest problem for a new Janša coalition is the SMC because it is still not clear how many MP votes the party can secure with at least two or even half of the SMC's ten MPs rumoured to be opposed to a Janša-led coalition.

The paper notes that the Marjan Šarec minority government saw the start of its end when the Left denied its support, wondering whether the leader of the Left Luka Mesec might have been ordered to make the move because of a new master plan ready in the background.

"Considering that the opportunity for a new government literally landed in Janša's arms even though parties left of the centre have as many as 52 members in parliament this term, the potential role of the so-called deep state should not be overlooked.

"What if it is in the interest of the uncles behind the scenes to have Janša return to power for a short while so that his government take some urgent, unpopular measures, which would spark off a revolt in the form of 'popular uprisings' that would bring new faces of the 'transition left' back to power?"

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 14 February 2020

Mladina: Parties should reject SDS-led government

STA, 14 February 2020 - Mladina, the left-leaning magazine, appeals to MPs and parties to refrain from joining a coalition led by the Democrats (SDS), arguing in Friday's commentary headlined All the Masks Have Fallen that now is the time to stand up for democratic standards.

"All the masks have fallen, all faces have been revealed. It is no longer possible to debate who stands for what kind of policies or democratic standards, the political parties have already made that plain," reads Mladina's editorial.

The leaders of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) have no qualms about SDS's democratic standards.

"They don't care if this party spreads intolerance, if its propaganda machine calls for the lynching of those who think differently, if it threatens journalists and politicians who disagree with them, they don't care if this party is connected to lobbies and is an ally of the Hungarian government and the Fidesz party."

Whether or not SDS leader Janez Janša forms a government now depends solely on individual MPs in the SMC, NSi and DeSUS. "How many MPs leave the SMC if these parties agree coalition is the only issue that remains open and will determine the course of events to come."

Mladina sees Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and Labour Minister Ksenija Klampfer, both senior SMC members, who oppose cooperation with the SDS, as examples of politicians who have stood up for democratic standards and who have created an opportunity for SMC lawmakers to reject party leader Zdravko Počivalšek's "Machiavellian stance".

It also suggests Slovenia should look to Germany, where the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had to step down "due to inconsistency about cooperation with the Alternative for Germany (AfD)".

"In Slovenia, a young democracy where MPs and ministers are seen as some kind of party soldiers, this was received with amazement... Yes, it is democratic for an MP or politician to follow their conscience. And in the coming days, when perhaps another MP decides in a similar fashion, this would be a feast of democracy."

Demokracija: The left's violent streak

STA, 12 February 2020 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija condemns death threats against politicians interested in forming coalitions with right-wing parties, saying that violence has always been in the left's domain. "Any death threat is a deplorable act... But it is all the more serious if it comes from the radical left because we know from history that it is usually carried out."

Demokracija editor-in-chief Jože Biščak points to the recent events in Thuringia, with the newly appointed state premier Thomas Kemmerich stepping down a day after he was sworn in.

His family received death threats after Kemmerich, a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), was appointed with the support by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the "patriotic" Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"The coalition with patriotic Germans caused unease among the Christian Democrats, even aggravation, but the leftists, unable to come to terms with the legitimately elected Kemmerich, immediately activated ANTIFA, a radical left group prone to violence."

Biščak notes that in Slovenia Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) head Aleksandra Pivec received a threat against her life last week, after she said the party would continue speaking to the Democrats (SDS) about a potential coalition.

Moreover, he says that back in 2012 somebody broke the window on the car of People's Party (SLS) leader Radovan Žerjav as he was negotiating a coalition with the SDS.

When the left fails to achieve what it wants in the legitimate and legal way, they start intimidating. ANTIFA is the left's violent background, a paramilitary unit. It responds to calls by a variety of NGOs nurturing the same ideology.

The Peace Institute is one of them, Biščak says under the headline Born for Violence. In one of its annual reports, the institute said that it helped to topple the second SDS government and the then Maribor Mayor Franc Kangler.

We all know how that happened: through violence (granite pavement cubes), threats (life-size human dummies suspended from a bridge) and betrayal (Gregor Virant), the commentator says about the protests that ultimately led to the fall of the SDS government in 2013.

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 7 February 2020

Mladina: SMC should not join SDS-led government

STA, 7 February 2020 - Looking at the prospects of a coalition led by the Democrats (SDS) being formed after the demise of the Marjan Šarec government, the left-wing weekly Mladina argues in Friday's commentary that the Modern Centre Party (SMC), seen as key to an SDS-led government, should not join forces with the SDS since this risked undermining democracy.

Recalling the policies of SDS and its leader Janez Janša, Mladina says that the party has been "driving the nation mad for thirty years" by creating a state of emergency all the time, recently leveraging a "special propaganda machine financed by the 'friend' Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, who is not concealing his desire to first economically and then politically subjugate Slovenia."

"The SDS made this pact with Orban to ascend to power with his help. In 2018 it did not succeed, making Orban angry. Now Janša has a new opportunity to carry out what he is expected to do," Mladina says in its editorial.

Arguing that this is the framework, the "political ring" in which Slovenian parties operate, the paper says that this game is destructive for everyone who engages in it. It destroyed former SMC president Miro Cerar and, to a significant extent, Marjan Šarec.

"Is it possible, then, that the SMC enters a government led by this man and this party, after what they have been through because of him? And with the awareness of what kind of historical burden they are taking on," the paper wonders.

"Janša needs SMC deputies to complete his mission, just like Orban needs Janša to carry out his plan to economically subjugate Slovenia to Hungary. Does the SMC really think they can stop this from the inside? In the five and a half years they have spent in Slovenian politics, have they not seen and grasped the dimensions of the politics that Janša represents?

"There is no good reason why after all this the SMC should buy into his latest provocation and allow itself to be used as the horse on which his ostracising policy and money from his master in Hungary will be brought to Slovenia.

"MPs are not in parliament to form governments. Yes, they do that as well. But the reason why we vote for them in general elections is because they are the guardians of democracy. These are their toughest moments. But this is exactly why we call them representatives of the people," the paper concludes in Guardians of Democracy.

Reporter: Politics revolves around Janša

STA, 3 February 2020 - Looking at the political situation in Slovenia following the resignation of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, the right-leaning weekly Reporter speculates it will all revolve around Democrat (SDS) leader Janez Janša again if an attempt is mounted to forge a new coalition to avert a snap election.

It has long been known that the only thing Janša is interested in domestically is the office of the prime minister. It is also clear he is not willing to step aside in favour of another SDS politician to make it easier to forge a coalition, the paper says in Monday's commentary Shock Doctrine.

"Janša would enter a coalition with anyone just to become prime minister for the third time. Two years ago almost everybody rejected him, now the situation is different," the commentator says, singling out the Modern Centre Party (SMC) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) as the most likely coalition partners alongside New Slovenia (NSi).

"Janša's chance of becoming prime minister is definitely better than two years ago, perhaps it is in fact his last opportunity. If he fails yet again, his SDS may suffer in the event of a snap election. The additional voters that Janša badly needs to supplement his loyal base may wonder why he should get their vote if he cannot put together a coalition."

"But if a snap election is held, it will be yet another election against Janez Janša. And this is what Marjan Šarec is counting on - fear of Janša," Reporter concludes.

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 31 January 2020

Mladina: Rejection of health insurance changes disgraceful

STA, 31 January 2020 – The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest commentary that the rejection of the proposal to abolish top-up health insurance in parliament was a disgrace, and that the result of the vote should be saved for future reference. What is even more problematic is that the vote has automatically become the foundation for a possible new coalition.

In the commentary headlined Someone Said Corruption?, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning weekly Grega Repovž notes that once it had become clear that a majority in parliament supported the bill, commercial insurers had launched a wide lobbying campaign.

Although it is not clear whether a new government will be formed, it is clear that one of the "largest lobbying campaigns in modern Slovenia has taken place in front of our eyes, and the formation of a new and the collapse of the current government is closely connected with this campaign."

Commenting on the vote, Repovž notes that the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) have been advocates of private health insurers for years, and the National Party (SNS) too, although not as openly.

"This week, the interest of private insurers was also publicly supported by three more parties: the Modern Centre Party (SMC), the party which relies on ethics, the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), which fights for common people, and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which fights for pensioners. This says it all."

The result of the vote should thus be put up on the wall because it is a list of people who voted that taxpayer money is transferred every month to some accounts, that someone there take their cut, and then transfer the money forward.

"The vote on the abolition of top-up health insurance has automatically become the foundation for the formation of a potential new government. This is what has brought them together. A good start. And it's only the beginning!"

Demokracija: Šarec alone to blame for coalition problems

STA, 30 January 2020 - The right-wing weekly Demokracija says in its commentary on Thursday that it was clear from the beginning that the government of Prime Minister Marjan Šarec would not last a full term, and that the fault is Šarec's alone, although he pretends to be the victim, blaming coalition partners for the coalition's problems.

Under the headline The Slovenian Patient, Demokracija says that Šarec was the one who let himself be drawn into a game of exclusions even before the election of 2018, he was the one who (officially) put together the coalition, approved the ministers and was responsible for the government's work.

What is more, Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj, who resigned shortly before Šarec, and Health Minister Aleš Šabeder, who was also set to resign at any moment, were both "from the same nest".

"Šarec did not have problems only with coalition partners, but also with ministers nominated by [his own party] LMŠ. But above all, he had problems with himself, his narcissism and his tongue, which he used to create a smokescreen and hide his incompetence."

While he failed to do anything reform-wise, he was very brutal in political staffing, fighting ideological opponents, abusing power and spending budget funds, the paper says, liking the 16 months Šarec was in power to a long, dark winter.

During this time, the state has been worn out in the face of programmed social justice, socialist mythology and threats to people who think differently, as well as political correctness.

All of this was dictated by progressive activists who always found the right "partners" for Šarec, who was interested only in preserving the status quo and protecting his position.

As a result, ordinary people, patriots who work for a living and fear for safety, have been "covered with a layer of radioactive contempt".

"They say that bad governments are chosen by good people who do not vote," the weekly says, expressing hope that people will not be fooled by "leftist frauds" and fall for "stand-up comedians from the transition left's closet", ahead of the likely snap election.

All our posts in this series are here

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 17 January 2020

Mladina: Health bill vote may be behind attempt at govt destabilisation

STA, 17 January 2020 - "It is unclear what or who causes hysteria in Slovenian politics," the left-wing weekly Mladina says as it analyses peculiar events before the congress of the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and opposition Democrat (SDS) leader Janez Janša's latest attempt to destabilise the government.

Editor-in-chief Grega Repovž accuses the media for helping create the hype around tomorrow's DeSUS congress by demanding senior DeSUS members reveal who they will support in the leadership battle between incumbent leader and Defence Minister Karl Erjavec and his most serious challenger Agriculture Minister Aleksandra Pivec.

"Is it really unusual that not all DeSUS MPs are behind Erjavec," wonders Mladina on Friday. "Since when is it normal for all MPs to have the same opinion and since when one has to say it loud and clear before a secret ballot which candidate one supports".

What is wrong if there are challengers to the party leader at a congress, Repovž says, but points to the fact that there are many "personal" parties in Slovenia which have the party leader's name in their name so it is hard to imagine them being led by anyone else.

He implies that "such a perception of democracy probably stems from at least some fascination with the only orderly party in Slovenia, namely the SDS, which does not wonder who would stand for party president even if Janša's name in nowhere to be found in the party's name".

However, it is clear that this fire is being kindled by those who would like to destabilise the government - the opposition, says Repovž, but adds there is nothing wrong what that, this is something the opposition does.

Janša's intention is clear, he wants to make coalition parties and the prime minister nervous, Repovž says in reference to his Sunday interview in which he said the government coalition was clinically dead.

But there could also be more substantive reasons to undermine the government, Repovž says, noting a bill to abolish top-up health insurance and stop further privatisation in healthcare will go into third reading at the end of January.

Neither the SDS nor the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) or DeSUS hide their connections with the health insurance lobby, which is trying to undermine the bill at all cost. This could perhaps be the reason for trying to destabilise the government before a key vote, according to Mladina.

Demokracija: Iran-NLB case comes with an inconvenience

STA, 16 January 2020 - While the investigation into the contentious transactions worth US$1 billion by a British-Iranian citizen through the NLB bank is still ongoing, the "inconvenient" thing is that the head of the National Bureau of Investigation is actually investigating himself and "protecting political godfathers", the right-wing Demokracija says in its latest commentary.

The right-leaning weekly refers to Iraj Farrokhzadeh, who is suspected of laundering Iranian money through his NLB accounts in 2009-2010 in breach of anti money-laundering legislation, while Iran was subject to international sanctions.

The commentary comes after the Specialised State Prosecution announced earlier this month it had abandoned a part of the investigation related to abuse of office by bankers at NLB.

The announcement came "at the moment when the democratic world was being appalled by Iran, when new sanctions and similar investigations of money flows from Tehran to cells around the world were being announced".

"The matter is not innocent. Farrokh, the Iranian company owned by Iraj Farrokhzadeh, laundered a billion dollars through NLB between 2008 and 2010, during the government coalition under the Social Democrats (SD) and Borut Pahor."

In the commentary Length of the Shadow of a Dollar Banknote, editor-in-chief Jože Biščak adds that there is suspicion that the money was used to purchase goods that could be used for nuclear armament.

"In other words, at the time of international sanctions against the regime in Tehran, the Slovenian state-owned bank helped Iran break through the embargo."

The investigation is still ongoing, but the "inconvenient" thing is that Darko Muženič, the head of the National Bureau of Investigation, is actually investigating himself and protect political godfathers.

Demokracija refers to Muženič serving as the head of the Office for Money Laundering Prevention when the scandal broke out in 2017.

"He apparently became the boss of the National Bureau of Investigation only to steer the investigation so that only pawns on the chessboard are (possibly) eventually found guilty," it adds.

But those who think that foreign intelligence services (US in particular) are not informed in detail about the true perpetrators and that they do not know what the modus operandi was, are so wrong.

"If nothing happens and perpetrators do not get punished, sanctions against Slovenia, formally still an ally of the US and western democracies, will not be visible and public, but they will be very painful."

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The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 10 January 2020

Mladina: Pahor is undermining government

STA, 10 January 2020 - In Friday's editorial, the left-leaning Mladina analyses two of President Borut Pahor's recent public appearances only to draw the conclusion that he is undermining the Marjan Šarec government to pave the way for Janez Janša of the opposition Democrats (SDS). The party won the 2018 election.

In his 30 December interview for TV Slovenija, Pahor clearly indicated that he does not like Prime Minister Šarec and that Šarec should leave the premiership to Janša.

"This was harsh manipulation by the president and an attempt to picture the situation in the country as strained and abnormal," says editor-in-chief Grega Repovž.

His attempt to fuel uncertainty and question the government's legitimacy has failed, having had no response, but the president nevertheless behaved oddly.

Pahor hinted at his discontent a few days earlier in his Independence Day speech, in which he presented his view that consensus politics was in a serious crisis.

Repovž admits Slovenia has a far-right party which spreads intolerance, namely the SDS, various militias have been popping up and hate speech is a problem.

"But this is not what Pahor meant. On the contrary, he wanted to say that he does not find it right that political parties refuse to cooperate with the SDS and Janša."

In the interview Pahor took a step further; while admitting the coalition has secured political stability, he indicated the government should now embark on reforms even at the cost of its own collapse.

Mladina says in the editorial headlined Pahor, the Manipulator that the president's statements are full of manipulation and deceit.

He pictured political stability as a source of instability, and said reforms were needed for Slovenia's revival, but Repovž wonders what revival he had in mind when Slovenia has one of the highest GDP growth rates and one of the lowest public debts in Europe.

Repovž believes Pahor's manipulation is aimed at creating the impression that Slovenian politics is in an emergency situation which needs to be stopped right now, so he in effect advised Šarec to cause his government'collapse by himself.

Mladina admits neither the government not Šarec is ideal, and ministers do not deserve As, which should provide Pahor with enough material for justified criticism.

"But Pahor is not interested in content, he is bothered by Šarec and by the fact the government is not led by his favourite politician Janša. This is the bottom line.

"He is thus willing to portray the situation as an emergency. What is most worrying is his superiority and his attempt to show that it is not legitimate if the government is run by this coalition, which is something a serious president cannot afford."

Demokracija: How the rich help the poor

STA, 9 January 2020 - As first consumers of very expensive goods, the rich have in fact helped reduce social inequality, so there is no need to raise taxes for them to channel more money towards the poor, the right-leaning weekly Demokracija argues in its editorial on Thursday.

It was an invaluable experience to listen to all sorts of leftists before the New Year saying they would continue their fight against exploitative capitalism, says the editor-in-chief Jože Biščak.

Wicked capitalism, as opposition Left leader Luka Mesec termed it, is apparently also reflected in social inequality measured by wealth.

Since we are not as far as redistributing it by looting, Mesec is reciting his mantra of "fair taxation" under which the rich should pay more.

It is of course typical of socialists to fight against capitalism with other people's money, which defies the logic of market economy.

But the statistically-corroborated fact is that never in the world have so few people lived under the poverty threshold and have goods been more available to everyone.

"And the credit goes solely to the rich, who play the role of 'food tasters in royal courts'," the magazine's editor-in-chief says in the eponymous commentary.

They can be credited with having been able to afford a terribly expensive innovation such as a TV set or a mobile phone at a certain moment in history, and their response enabled producers to assess the future demand.

Them being pioneer consumers benefits all, making goods more accessible also for the poorer classes. "So eventually, if I use the speak of the leftists, this helps reduce social inequality," Biščak concludes.

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The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 3 January 2020

Mladina: Change ahead for the global economy in 2020

STA, 3 January 2019 - The trade war the US started three years ago could get a new development in 2020 which will be caused by Europe as it is transiting to cleaner technologies. To promote clean technologies as it pursues its CO₂ commitments, Europe will have to resort to customs and taxes, "which changes everything", the left-wing weekly Mladina says on Friday.

Europe is rushing the change especially because of the interests of Germany, its No. 1 economic power which wants to be the leader, says editor-in-chief Grega Repovž, noting the German industry is expected to roll out this year many new materials and products, which will not be competitive at least in their first years.

The editor says there is some historical irony and a lot of symbolism in Europe starting the transition to cleaner industries and a new way of protecting its interests with steel.

Firstly, steel epitomises the old and dirty industry which used to turn entire regions in deserts, and secondly, the EU was in 1950 formed to protect its steel industry.

Ursula von der Leyen included the introduction of a CO₂ tax in Europe in the programme of the new European Commission, thus highlighting a new/old way of protecting European interests in order to adapt to the climate crisis.

She believes Europe should not allow its market getting flooded by cheap Chinese steel which is possibly subsidised and produced in an environmentally contentious manner.

"This announcement clearly shows that Europe will change its economic behaviour, while other superpowers will not be just watching what is going on.

"The global economy could thus change significantly due to the climate crisis ...," Repovž says, adding that things may well not develop as Europe would like it.

The transition will cost a lot at first and there is no doubt that European countries and the EU itself will have to help companies financially.

Industries are thus in for several difficult years as production and markets gets adapted to new environmental standards.

This is not just an economic issue, but also a political one because such developments can cause political turmoil, Repovž concludes the editorial A Fight for New Economy.

Demokracija: Doubts about the multiplier effect of state investment

Ljubljana, 3 January - The right-wing weekly Demokracija disputes the argument that state investment in infrastructure projects has a multiplier effect on the national economy and economic growth, rubbishing an op-ed article in which economist Jože P. Damijan argued against the selection of Turkey's Cengiz as the contractor to build the Karavanke motorway tunnel.

In the latest editorial, headlined Jože P. Damijan's Voodoo Economics, Demokracija editor-in-chief Jože Biščak notes that the article appeared in Delo, the newspaper owned by the industrial concern Kolektor, whose construction arm was one of the bidders in the tender to built the Slovenian section of the tunnel.

"Since the deep state is facing the threat of a similar outcome in other public infrastructure tenders (...) Jože P. Damijan set out to 'scientifically' prove why the state should renounce (cheaper) foreign contractors (in particular the Turks), and explained to the executive how to get rid of them.

"Damijan is not just anybody, in a decade and a half the man went from being a young free market economist to an advocate of the command economy, becoming the darling of Forum 21 and the leading left economist," writes Biščak.

He says that in his "zeal Damijan applied his strongest weapon - the multiplier effect", which Biščak denounces as a myth, quoting economists Federic Bastiat and Friedrich von Wieser.

"This is not to say the national and local governments should not invest money into infrastructure (...) but they should do so with utmost care. Including by seeing to the cheapest possible implementation of an infrastructure project.

"Governments do not produce a market value (...) Even less has their investment multiplier effects. This has also been established in a working document of the IMF for 2014 (which Damijan often refers to) by economist Andrew M. Warner, who found few (empirical) pieces of evidence that infrastructure projects had multiplier effect or generated economic growth.

"The state can do most for the domestic economy by ensuring a functional rule of law and by allowing freedom to people. That should be Slovenia's reality if it wants to be a successful country."

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