Anže Logar, former SDS wonderboy and long-time heir-presumptive to the Glorious Leader, quit The Party earlier today. He sent out a short email quoting John D. Rockefeller with “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great“, wished Janez Janša all the best and told him he’s getting the fuck out of Dodge. Thus, after nearly two years of stubbornly sitting on the fence, Logar finally made his move. Sort of.
Realistically, there was no way Logar was going to remain a party member. Not after he formed his debate club and certainly not after he refused to sign a loyalty pledge. But, staying true to his political style, Logar quit SDS with all the flair of a wet tablecloth. There was no press conference, no gaggle of reporters, no grand exit. Just a low-key email, with a mis-attributed quote. If there exists a better metaphore for Logar’s politics, pengovsky can’t think of one.
In opening his resignation letter, Logar quoted John D. Rockefeller and wrote that we shouldn’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. Which, OK, whatever.
Wrong quote
But the real issue here is that it most likely wasn’t John D. Rockefeller who said that. Instead, the quote probably originated with country singer Kenny Rogers.
Awkward.
More to the point, however, what the fuck was Logar thinking, looking to capitalism’s most infamous monopolist for inspiration? I mean, Standard Oil had to be busted up by the federal government, lest it become a state unto its own, unanswerable to anyone. What exactly is the former foreign minister signalling here?
In all likelihood, not much. Probably, he was simply looking for a good Pinterest quote, not thinking it all the way through.
Which, again, is very much his political style.
Will he/won’t he?
For the past two years, Logar kept everyone one guessing what, if anything he plans to do. He started his alternative debate club but didn’t quit the party. He criticised Janša but voted with the party. Didn’t sign the pledge of allegiance but didn’t quit the party group either. Hinted at forming his own party but then suggested he’d run for SDS leader.
In short, even Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacot would have lost patience with Logar’s will-he/won’t-he shtick by now. And if you don’t get that reference pengovsky can’t help you.
More importantly, while the cello-wielding Logar quit the SDS, he didn’t quit the SDS parliamentary group. And this is where things get interesting.
Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes
In his terse response, Janša said he expects Logar to fuck off from the SDS group toute de suite. He also stated in no unclear terms that Logar’s entire political career was the result of The Party having his back rather than Anže being some sort of political wonderboy. To wit:
” […]having put you on the ballot in a precinct where you had neither a place of work nor a place of residence, and where the party, through its history and the hard work of its nominees, ensured your election to the parliament”
Janša’s message is as clear as a fish wrapped in Luca Brasi’s bulletproof vest. Without party machinery, Anže Logar is politically dead. And while it may be a bit too early to write off Logar the Lone Ranger just yet, Janša does have a point.
Constitutional loophole
As a member of a big party, Logar could throw around a bit of weight. Even after he started eyeing a solo career, being a card-carrying SDS member provided him with a certain amount of clout.
But now that he is out, he has no infrastructure, no field offices, no access to arguably the most fine-tuned political apparatus in Muddy Hollows. He seems to realise this, which is probably why he stayed on as SDS parliamentary group member, despite quitting the party itself.
And before either reader asks, yes, this is entirely legal in Muddy Hollows. The constitution stipulates that every MP is a representative of the entire people and that no MP is bound by any sort of political directive.
This fact is making Janša tear his hair out. He keeps having his MPs sign pledges of loyalty, various contracts and agreements about how they will step down as MPs if they stray from the party line, and so on. In reality, however, he can do fuck all if someone like Anže Logar jumps the party ship but stays in the parliament.
Tick fucking tock
But while the Glorious Leader may be hopping mad over Logar using the constitutional loophole (at least, that’s the way Janša sees it), he ultimately does have the upper hand.
Suddenly, Logar is on the clock. Parties have been known to form as little as six weeks before the election. But those parties had charismatic leaders who mostly rallied the anti-Janša vote on the political left. Think Zoran Janković and Robert Golob.
Logar on the other hand will, presumably, be attempting to rally the anti-Janša vote on the political right. That is a much steeper hill to climb, not in the least because Marshal Twito is expertly sucking out all the oxygen on that part of the political spectrum.
And this lack of oxygen is probably the reason Logar made his move so hurriedly today.
Politically homeless
For nearly two years, he was taking his sweet time, enjoying the status of Schrödringer’s politican, being both committed and utterly uncommitted to providing an alternative to Janez Janša, at the same time.
This autumn however, the political cesspit of Muddy Hollows is awash with rumours of new political parties being designed, drafted and resurrected. Anže Logar was, to put its simply, in danger of being muscled out of space he thought he had a monopoly on.
Suddenly, looking to John Rockefeller for inspiration makes much more sense.
Be that as it may, the man just played his best card. You can only quit SDS once, and hope to live to tell the tale. As of today, Anže Logar is politically homeless and all of a sudden, the question of whether or not he will go about forming his own party is no longer only academic.
It is a matter of his political survival. This makes him much more vulnerable and the odds were not in his favour to begin with.