Matej T. Vatovec

Ljubljana – The new centre-left coalition expects the political situation to de-escalate now that the new parliament has started its work, and the level of the debate to be raised. Coalition deputy groups note the importance of cooperation in tackling challenges and stress they are well prepared and will work together to implement their plans.

Ljubljana – Deputies of the Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi), who are to be in the opposition in the new term, said that Robert Golob could not count on their support as the National Assembly is taking a vote on the prime minister nominee on Wednesday. They nevertheless said constructive cooperation with the new government was a possibility.

Ljubljana/Koper – Robert Golob, the head of the Freedom Movement party that has convincingly won Sunday’s general election, is expected to meet President Borut Pahor informally on Tuesday as the most likely candidate for the prime minister-designate. Talks with the Social Democrats (SD) and Left on forming a new coalition are also expected tomorrow.

Ljubljana – Agriculture Minister Jože Podgoršek resigned on Wednesday after he became the target of media scrutiny over lack of clarity regarding the payment of his weekend stay at an upscale hotel in Bohinj in January. He said he was “resigning exclusively due to the late payment of the bill”, and was accepting responsibility for this.

Ljubljana – All but one parliamentary party welcomed Slovenia’s offer to accept Ukrainian refugees, although there was some scepticism whether the country has the capacity or would even need to take in between 180,000 and 200,000 as suggested by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs. The opposition also raised unequal treatment of refugees depending on their origin.

Ljubljana – The Credentials and Privileges Commission proposed that the National Assembly appoint to the programme council and supervisory board of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija five candidates each who had been proposed by the coalition, the Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) and the opposition National Party (SNS) much to the chagrin of the centre-left opposition.

Ljubljana – After President Borut Pahor announced he would call a general election for 24 April, this triggered varied reactions from political parties all across the political spectrum. Coalition partners largely welcomed this decision, while opposition parties mostly still favour the increasingly unlikely option of a snap election.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary Home Policy Committee voted down late on Friday evening a motion by the centre-left opposition calling for a snap election. The emergency session, which lasted for more than nine hours, discussed the situation in the country. The government finds the motion to be unwarranted.

Ljubljana – Speaker Igor Zorčič will not call a plenary session to debate the opposition Left’s party programme after the coalition Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) requested this last week, arguing the programme contained elements suggesting the Left could act against the country’s constitutional order.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly passed in a unanimous vote on Friday amendments to the penal code that redefine sexual consent in line with the concept that only yes means yes. MPs said during the debate that the credit should go to NGOs, which mobilised the public to create a genuine social movement.