Election Continuous
Vote for continued flourishing of our cities and villages! (source)
As of autumn last year, this country is in a state of political flux which will last probably until 2012. We’ve entered what I like to call “continous electoral campaign”, as there are elections scheduled every year with a brief exception in year 2011. Allow me to elucidate with refferenced to specifics:
2006 - municipal elections
2007 - presidentital election
2008 - parliamentary elections
2009 - European elections
2010 - municipal elections
2011 - take a deep breath
2012 - general (presidential and parliamentary) elections
From a scientific point of view this gives us an ideal opportunity to follow the flow of politics, as agenda setting will by default be influenced by upcoming elections every year. You’ve had the opportunity to observe this on this blog throughout 2007 as assasination of character of President of the Republic took place. Why? To prevent him from running again, making room for a more “appropriate candidate” and to diminish the role of the President as such.
Next, it is almost obvious that 2008 will be the year of “great achievements” of this government as it will try to boost its ratings and secure another mandate. I’ve full confidence in PM Janša in that departement (please note the sarcasm), although it is entirely possible that the next coalition will be ruled by these two characters
And the pattern will repeat itself every year until 2012. On one hand, this is bad of course. With the ruling coalition up to its neck in a reelection bid, little actual work will get done, so I shan’t be surprised if Slovenia finds itself lagging in development in 2013.
On the other hand, it offers a brilliant option for a political “exit-stage right” for Janez Janša, thus really bringing political transition to an end. Namely: parliamentary and presidential elections coincide every twenty years (the parliament has a four-year term, while the President serves a five-year term). If we suppose that Janša will get another mandate as PM in 2008, it is safe to assume that he will either fuck up big, making himself unelectable as PM in 2012, or that Borut Pahor and his Social Democrats will slowly build up power up to the point of becoming the largest party in 2012. In both cases, Janša would be offered the perfect exit cue, as he would not have to face electoral defeat, but would rather just switch offices - much like Drnovšek did in 2002. But Drnovšek had to resign in order to run for President, whereas Janša wouldn’t have to.
It’s gonna be fun for the next couple of years 
EDIT: My timing is impeccable. According to this article by RTVSLO Slovenia’s economy will cool down in 2013. A summary of the analysis by government economists in English can be found here.
Thursday, August 9th, 2007
