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Cosplay In Kyiv

There is no denying that the Trip of the Three PMs to Kyiv got a shitload of international attention and was billed as some sort of a diplomatic and geopolitical feat. For a fleeting moment, Janez Janša, Petr Fiala and Mateusz Morawiecki (together with his boss Jarosław Kaczyński) caught the attention of the world.

The front page of Luxemburger Wort for 16 March 2022. Pictured are Janša, Fila, Marowietzki and Kaczynski on their way to Kyiv. — *The front page of Luxemburger Wort for 16 March 2022*

Virtually every outlet out there, from the New York Times to Deutsche Welle to South China Morning Post ran the same basic story: thee PMs plus the real ruler of Poland met the Ukrainian with balls of steel, and said words. Incidentally, this is probably the first and the last time Marshal Twito made the front page of the Luxemburger Wort.

The Siege Of RTVSLO

It may, of course, be pure coincidence, but fact of the matter is that only days into Russian aggression against Ukraine, the government of Slovenian PM Janez Janša began a siege and ultimately an assault on RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO), the country’s public broadcaster.

The building of TV arm of RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO), the nation's public broadcaster. — *RTVSLO headquarters (source)*

Normally, putting the war in Ukraine and the shit Janša is getting away with side by side would be gratuitous at best. But it is not only that there is a temporal overlap between the two. The Glorious Leader is directly using RTVSLO coverage of war in Ukraine to instigate the latest and most brutal round of undermining and destruction of the public outlet.

Ukraine War Forces Slovenian Politics To Think Foreign Policy Thoughts

In all honesty, it is a bit self-serving to try and look at Russian war against Ukraine through the lens of Muddy Hollows and its political cesspool. But seeing as this is an utterly self-serving blog, pengovsky will go right ahead. PM Janša, on the other hand, will stay put, as the Russian aggression preempted his photo-op in Kyiv planned for today.

Flags if Ukraine in the government district in Ljubljana. — *Ukrainian flags in the government district in Ljubljana (source)*

This, incidentally, should make the Glorious Leader available for a court-date in a defamation case against him. But he’ll probably claim an emergency NatSec Council meeting or something like that. And for once, he may not be lying through his teeth to get out of a court date.

President Pahor Calls Election And Tampers With Rules Of Engagement

President Pahor dropped his hankie last Wednesday and called the 2022 parliamentary election in Muddy Hollows. The date of the vote is set for April 24, the first possible date in a six-week period. This means that the rubber now finally meets the road and the mad dash for the finish line begins.

President Borut Pahor signing the order calling the 2022 parliamentary election. — *The Prez signing the order calling parliamentary elections (source)*

This also means that The Prez was not under pressure to backtrack on his earlier commitments to this date. Or, to be more precise, this meas that the Glorious Leader is just fine with the date. The only one who was making noises on this was nationalist party leader and a walking business project, Zmago Jelinčič.

Olaj On The Loose

It so happened during one of the more spectacular exercises in rearranging urban furniture last October, that the cops let loose and gassed and water-bombed the entire Ljubljana city centre, non-protesting civilians included. Former Speaker Pavle Gantar tweet in response that “the city is full of gangs of citizens tear-gassing and hosing down innocent people”. Somehow this made Chief of Police Anton Olaj very unhappy.

A photo collage depicting police chief Anton Olaj, Pavle Gantar and the fine the latter was slapped with. — Anton Olaj, Pavle Gantar and his fine

As a result, the Big Cop filed charges against Gantar. Supposedly because the latter disrespected the men and women in uniform. And earlier this week, Gantar tweeted that he was fined to the tune of 250 EUR. The fine cited violations of Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Public Order Act. Then irony went home and died in agony.

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.