Social Democrats

Ljubljana – Prime Minister Janez Janša’s presentation of Slovenia’s EU presidency priorities at the National Assembly on Monday elicited criticism from the centre-left opposition parties. Some described it as short on detail, others expressed doubt about whether the government can deliver.

Ljubljana – The Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) will hold a congress on Saturday to elect what will be its third leadership in a year and a half. Last December, after less than a year under Aleksandra Pivec, the party again elected its ex-boss Karl Erjavec, but he stepped down in March. There are three contenders now.

Ljubljana – The leader of the Social Democrats (SD) Tanja Fajon has proposed that four opposition parties forge a closer partnership, starting with a “partnership discussion” that would chart the way forward.

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 50:36 vote on Tuesday amendments to the act on road transport that create the legal basis for transportation platforms such as Uber or Lyft, changes that the government argues will facilitate the digitalisation of the transport sector.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly rejected in a 46:43 vote on Tuesday a proposal from the centre-left opposition for a consultative referendum on the government-sponsored bill on the national Demographic Fund.

The bill was adopted by the government last autumn and its passed a second reading in the National Assembly in March.

Ljubljana – Igor Zorčič remains speaker as only 45 MPs voted to dismiss him in a secret ballot Friday, one short of the needed majority, just like in the first attempt on 30 March after he quit the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC). Two ballots were invalid while no MP voted against as the centre-left opposition and unaffiliated MPs obstructed the vote.

He left the coalition Party of the Democratic Center (SMC) due to disagreements with the government and founded his own independent parliamentary club. Like last month's vote, the ruling party lacked one vote to remove it.
45 deputies voted for the removal, one less than the majority, two ballots were invalid, while the opposition parties left the hall before the vote.

Ljubljana – Centre-left opposition parties have asked for an emergency session of parliament to discuss their motion to impeach PM Janez Janša. This is after the parliament met for a regular session today to discuss the motion and a number of bills, but the plenary was suspended after the MPs failed to confirm the agenda in a 42:42 vote.

Ljubljana – The latest Vox Populi poll, commissioned by dailies Dnevnik and Večer, shows that the support for the Janez Janša government has hit its lowest point so far as 70.2% think the government is not doing its job well. Meanwhile, the ruling Democrats (SDS) remain in the lead, followed by the opposition SocDems.