SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Zoran Janković Does A Great Act of Terrible Self-harm

After numerous criminal investigations, parliamentary hearings and more or less organised attempts to form a viable political alternative, it would be more than a little ironic if the person who did the most to oust Zoran Janković as Ljubljana mayor turned out to be… Zoran Janković.

Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković did a piss-poor job defending his letter of support to Serbian leader Aleksandar Vučić — *Zoran Janković on TV SLO a few days ago (source)*

The impressive student protest movement is proving to be the greatest challenge the regime of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, As a result, predsedniče Aca is looking for support wherever he can find it. And as if on cue, Zoki sent a fawning letter of support to the embattled Serbian leader. This irked so many people that the seemingly forever-mayor may not actually be forever much longer. Slight panic ensued.

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.

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.

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.