SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Robert Golob Shoots Himself In The Same Foot Twice

When pengovsky went on summer vacay, the presidential race looked like a no-brainer. Sure, a week is a long time in politics. But with Nataša Pirc Musar, Anže Logar and Marta Kos declaring early, things seemed pretty much decided. The only question was whether Logar would lose to Kos or to Pirc Musar in the second round. This scenario went to hell in a hand-basket when Marta Kos bailed out of the race late last month, leaving Robert Golob with a bit of a problem.

Marta Kos, Robert Golob and Milan Brglez. — *Kos, Golob and Brglez. Or, in aviary terms, blackbird, pigeon and nuthatch.*

Then things got really interesting really fast. First, the NSi launched their own candidate. This all but denied Anže Logar the chance to unify the right-wing vote in the first round. And then Social Democrats – after an intensive internal monolgoue – fielded Milan Brglez MEP as their man on the ballot. Finally, Robert Golob made a string of strategic fuck-ups and ended up looking as if he only entered national politics last year. Oh, wait…

One Queen To Rule Them All

At first glance, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II does not seem especially pertinent to the politics of Muddy Hollows. In fact, other than a couple of boilerplate expressions of condolences by the nation’s highest elected officials and a botched (and then deleted) tweet by the Glorious Leader, the death of the worlds longest-serving monarch in, like, ever, was primarily a media fascination.

Queen Elizabeth II during her tour of Slovenian capital Ljubljana (photo by pengovsky) — *Queen Elizabeth during her tour of Ljubljana (source: The Firm(tm))*

That is not to say, however, the late queen and Slovenia never crossed paths. Fourteen years ago, Her Majesty popped over for a three-day state visit. The occasion was correctly seen as a major diplomatic success for a country that had joined the EU and NATO only four years earlier.

Same-Sex Marriages And Adoptions To Become Reality In Slovenia

Just before the summer break Slovenian constitutional court released a landmark ruling on same-sex marriages and adoptions. Not to put too fine a point on it, the ruling wiped the floor with the obviously discriminatory definition of marriage as written in the Family Code. As of last Friday, same-sex couples can legally marry and adopt children, enjoying the same privileges and obligations as heterosexual couples.

Slovenian and LGBTQI+ flags, symbolising legialisation of same-sex marriages and adoptions in Slovenia. — *Muddy Hollows is catching up on LGBT rights*

Or, do they? Pengovsky will not give anything away by noting this was a landmark ruling. It settled things that needed settling a long time ago. Indeed, the very first attempt to legalise same-sex weddings was made way back in 2004. This was during the liberal government of Tone Rop, after a decade of workgoups, drafts and whathaveyou. Friday’s ruling aside, there is still no comprehensive legislative protection of these rights. So, what the fuck really happened?

2022 Presidential Campaign Season Is Now Officially Open

Presidential campaign season is finally on in Muddy Hollows. And it looks like it is going to be fucking awesome. Not necessarily in the constructive sense of the word. Be that as it may, there was movement on the presidential front just before the summer break.

Photo of Nina Krajnik and Nataša Pirc Musar in the first, albeit unofficial, debate of the 2022 presidential campaign. — *Presidential hopefuls Nina Krajnik and Nataša Pirc Musar sparred on N1. (source)*

Curiously – and most definitely awesome in the constructive sense of the word – four of the five candidates that have declared running for president thusfar are all women. OK, so there’s also this guy that goes by the name of SoulGreg, but he is not really important. What is important, is the fact that with the open 2022 presidential race, the field is about to get very crowded very fast.

Tanja Fajon Tested On Ukraine

Two weeks into her term in office, Tanja Fajon is faced with an important test of her foreign policy chops. And not in a way she was (probably) hoping for. An open letter advocating a new, purportedly more sensible approach on Ukraine made its way into the media. The letter was signed by eighteen people of varying importance. Most of them are (or were) academics, some of them are regular TV pundits, still others are political has-beens, looking to reclaim some of the old fame.

Foreign minister Tanja Fajon speaking on the phone. — *Foreign minister Tanja Fajon doing her level best to imitate Ursula von der Leyen (source)*

In all honesty, the text would have probably gone the way of various other letters and petitions that float around in Muddy Hollows at any given time, were it not for the fact that former presidents Milan Kučan and Danilo Türk attached their signatures. Which seemed to kind of complicate things. At least for Tanja Fajon and PM Robert Golob.