The Left

Ljubljana – MPs endorsed on Tuesday a government-sponsored act that temporarily increases the scope of temporary or casual work available for pensioners to help the labour market recover in the wake of Covid-19. The government says the proposal will help mitigate labour shortages, whereas a part of the opposition believes the solution comes too late.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly has voted 43 to 30 to endorse the government proposal not to allow a referendum on a law ratifying the agreement with the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). The opposition Left, which initiated the referendum bid, is now planning to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Ljubljana – If election was held this Sunday, most respondents in a poll conducted by pollster Parsifal would vote for the ruling Democrats (SDS). The party’s support rose by 3 percentage points to 22.9% in the past month. The Freedom Movement party headed by Robert Golob would come second, on 13.2% support, up by 2.8 percentage points.

Ljubljana – The Left has withdrawn its motion for a consultative referendum on changes to the income tax act, as the government had indicated the referendum could be held on the same day as the general election. Left coordinator Luka Mesec said the party did not want to enable the government to build its election campaign on “promises of higher wages.”

Ljubljana – An initiative by the opposition Left to call a consultative referendum on a long-term programme for the development of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) was voted down by eight votes to one on the Defence Committee on Tuesday. The vote is not binding on the plenary.

Ljubljana – The opposition Left has demanded for the parliamentary committees on infrastructure and social affairs to meet for a joint emergency session due to soaring energy prices. One of their proposals is regulating gas and power prices for end users.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Defence Committee approved the draft resolution on the general long-term programme for the development and equipping of the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) until 2035. The resolution is strongly opposed by the Left party, which plans to propose a consultative referendum.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly has passed changes to pension legislation to remedy injustices done to persons who voluntarily continued to pay mandatory pension and disability insurance contributions despite being for instance unemployed after 1 January 2013, not being aware that this would not count towards their pensionable years.

Ljubljana – Most parliamentary parties have lost ground in the latest poll commissioned by the commercial broadcaster POP TV as the ruling Democratic Party (SDS) posted its worst showing this year and its coalition partner New Slovenia (NSi) slipped back the most.

Ljubljana – The top bodies of three of the four centre-left opposition parties which have finalised an agreement on post-election cooperation unanimously endorsed the document at their respective sessions on Saturday, while the fourth party did so earlier this week.