January, 2022 | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Robert Golob And Political Analogies

Robert Golob took the plunge. The now-ex CEO of Gen-I electrical power provider took over Z.Dej, a small green party founded by Jure Leben and renamed it to Gibanje svoboda (Freedom Movement). Thus he inserted himself into the political arena. The move was long roumored so overtly indicated for the past week that even pengovsky got the hint.

Robert Golob and PM Janša's tweet. — Robert

This is bad news for Speaker Igor Zorčič and his newly-minted LIDE party. He can now only hope the remnants of pensioners’ party DeSUS will go all cougar on him. Golob, however, got precisely what he needed. An empty political vessel, devoid of an ambitious president and sans all the bureaucratic jumping through hoops that forming a political party entails.

The State of Muddy Hollows Play, part 5: They’re On The Pavement, Thinking About The Government

There is one relatively substantial piece of the Muddy Hollows political puzzle that nobody is quite sure how it will fall into place. Or if it will even fit at all, for that matter. Various NGOs and/or civic coalitions that have sprang to life during the pandemic are a big wildcard and could have an outsize effect on the final outcome of the vote.

The Gremo volit! campaign will attempt to increase turnout in 2022 parliamentary election in Muddy Hollows — *Launch of Gremo volit! (Let’s Vote!) campaign (source)*

This constitutes the fifth and final part of this here series. Click here for parts One, Two, Three and Four. Muddy Hollows is transitioning into full campaign mode and every move they make (and every breath they take) will now be watched from the viewpoint of election Sunday.

The State of Muddy Hollows Play, part 4: Springtime For Green Parties?

Following yesterday’s Taiwanese Twattery by PM Janša, pengovsky now returns to regular programming. This time, we will discuss green parties, among other things. But just to recap. In Part One we covered the Glorious Leader and what is left of his coalition (mostly NSi). In Part Two we introduced the new messiah Robert Golob and outlined the fraught relation opposition KUL parties have with him (and among themselves).

Urša Zgojznik and Uroš Macerl, leaders of Vesna, one of many green parties competing in this year's election in Slovenia. — *Urša Zgojznik and Uroš Macerl of Vesna party (source)*

We finished Part Three stating Konkretno (rebranded SMC) and other political rejects will need a goddamn miracle to make it into the next parliament. Future ex politicians in close orbit around Zdravko Počivalšek will probably only see the inside of the National Assembly if they join a guided tour. But sometimes miracles do happen.

Janez Janša And The China Clusterfuck

Every time pengovsky does a series of posts on the state of things in Slovenia, shit happens to interrupt the regular programming. And this time, boy did the excrement hit the oscillator. The story of course is PM Janša’s recent interview for an Indian state TV. The whole things a sight to see, but money-quotes include the Glorious Leader lambasting China for its handling of the epidemic and standing up for Lithuania after the EU member opened a trade office in Taiwan.

PM Janša in a TV interview, talking about China and Taiwan, among other things.

So far so good. The part about the pandemic is a bit impolitic, but OK. He went on to say that Slovenia will follow Lithuania and open its own office in Taipei. Which… um… Right? But then he said “he’d support the sovereign decision of the Taiwanese people to decide for themselves how they want to live”. Not surprisingly, the Chinese foreign office blew its stack. Thus Glorious Leader landed Muddy Hollows in another diplomatic dumpster fire.

The State of Muddy Hollows Play, part 3: Igor Zorčič’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Welcome to Part Three of taking the lay of the political land in Slovenia. If this is your first contact with the series, check out parts One and Two. Today pengovsky takes both readers into the myriad of smaller parties and coalitions in Muddy Hollows. Not all of them, mind you. Because even in the world of parties-as-a-hobby, some are more equal that the others.

Igor Zorčič founded LIDE, the youngest political party in Muddy Hollows. — *Igor Zorčič at LIDE founding congress (source)*

Granted, Speaker Igor Zorčič is by no means the only one inhabiting this particular niche parties. But he earns top billing by the virtue of the office he holds. Also, by the fact that his party ties directly into the story of Robert Golob.

The State of Muddy Hollows Play, part 2: Who The Fuck Is Robert Golob?

In Part Two of pengovsky playing catch-up (click here for Part 1), it is finally time to introduce Robert Golob. To outside observers, his name popped up suddenly in a series of opinion polls, scoring a cool fifteen-to-twenty percent from the get-go. And many people went “the fuck is going on in Muddy Hollows?”

Robert Golob, now former CEO of Gen-I, who upended political scene in Muddy Hollows. — Robert Golob (source)

In a nutshell, it is a function of a lot of people wanting someone, anyone, to sort out this fucking mess. Call it a reverse messiah complex. That is not to say that Robert Golob does not have his own agency and ambitions. Which he clearly does. But right now, he still lacks pretty much everything else. But the turntables….

The State of Muddy Hollows Play, part 1: Party Like It’s 1939

It has been… checks notes… more than a month since pengovsky posted anything on the state of play in Muddy Hollows. There were things to see and people to do and whatnot, but still apologies are in order. So, yeah..

Slovenian PM Janez Janša during a meeting of the coalition that kind of runs the show in Muddy Hollows — *The Glorious Leader at a coalition pow-wow (source)*

But shit did not stop going down in Slovenia and both readers were pleading, nay, screaming for an update. Which turned into an update series. Because who wants to read a five-thousad-words blogpost? Anyway, it so happens that said updates include pigeons, turncoats and rebrandings. They will also introduce a shitload of new parties, suspicious public opinion polls and overt hints to a Trump playbook. Oh, and a letter from the Glorious Leader.