Poklukar Vote Results Make For A Shaky Coalition

Boštjan Poklukar will stay on as minister of the interior. At least for now. With NSi taking the lead, the opposition held his feet to the fire yesterday. But in the end the no-confidence vote fell well short of the mark as only 29 MPs voted for his dismissal.

Boštjan Poklukar, addressing the parliament and defending his record as interior minister. SD and Levica abstained, making sure the opposition didn't get a majority on the vote.
Boštjan Poklukar defending his record (via RTVSLO)

That said, coalition had its own skibidi moment when they only mustered 35 votes in Poklukar’s support. Meaning that even the GS came up five votes short when supporting their own minister, as SD and Levica said upfront they were going to sit this one out.

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Protecting Private Poklukar

Chief of Police Senad Jušić resigned earlier today. And while interior minister Boštjan Poklukar denied it, the move was clearly designed to help save his ass in the upcoming no-confidence vote.

In a bid to save his own ass, interior minister Boštjan Poklukar accepted the - no doubt forced - resignation of Chief of Police Senad Jušić.
Boštjan Poklukar (right) throwing Senad Jušić under the bus (source)

SD came out swinging on Monday, saying that Jušić has to go, pronto, and only after that will they consider supporting Poklukar (or not). Not to be outdone in this powerplay, Levica followed suit yesterday, saying pretty much the same thing. While Poklukar can survive both parties’ abstentions, their votes for no confidence would seal his fate.

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Social Democrats Start Making Noises

In the latest episode of the epic aboutfuckery that is the LD;GD podcast, pengovsky posited that the next election is 13 months away, at best. But then Matjaž Han of Social Democrats started making noises.

Leader of Social Democrats (SD) Matjaž Han during a press conference yesterday.
Matjaž Han and his Social Democrats. Sounds like a name for a band. (source)

Election legislation provides a timeframe for the next vote and the powers that be will consider things like public and school holidays when deciding on when to vote next. And seeing as PM Robert Golob holds a comfortable majority in the parliament, it seems reasonable to think Muddy Hollows is looking at the next election in late February, early March 2026.

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Government Cleaning Up Its Media Act

While the title may be a horrible attempt at a journalistic pen pun (seriously, pengovsky!), we really should talk about the shiny new draft Media Act the Golob government adopted on the very last day of 2024.

A picture of a microphone in a podcast studio. The new media act finally addresses digital media as well.
A picture of a podcasting studio which may or may not be symbolic…

The text itself is a major overhaul of a woefully outdated piece of legislation. The existing law dates back to the days of linear television, printed press and national-language music quotas. As a result, the new draft addresses many problems at once, with varying success. It also made the political right wing head for the mattresses.

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Vladimir Prebilič, Talk Dirty To Me

Vladimir Prebilič made a bit of a poo-poo yesterday in the European parliament. Addressing the recent tragedy in Novi Sad, where a collapsed canopy killed fifteen people and the role that Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić and his cronies played in this, he began his speech in Serbian.

Vladimir Prebilič during his ill-fated address.
Vladimir Prebilič speaking in the European Parliament (source)

This sent the more nationalistic elements in Slovenia, Croatia and even Serbia flying off the hook. It also showed Prebilič to be a political nincompoop, whose grandstanding came to a screeching halt on a point of order.

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