Slovenia | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

NSi Discontinues Matej Tonin

Matej Tonin, the Internet Explorer of Slovenian politics, will receive no further upgrades as of September this year. The NSi leader who came to power in a coup against Ljudmila Novak back in 2017 exited the stage in pretty much the same fashion, back-stabbed by his own party council.

Like Windows 10, Matej Tonin has reached end-of-support. There will be no further updates to the software. Ljudmila Novak would like a word while Janez Janša is chuckling. — *End of NSi support for Matej Tonin*

Namely, despite earlier assurances to the contrary, NSi honchos decided on Friday afternoon they are amenable to teaming up with Janez Janša and his SDS after the 2026 election. And so they did to Tonin what Tonin did to Ljudmila Novak, and cachiered him unceremoniously. Just as pengovsky prediced a year ago.

Borut Pahor Aiming At Palestine, Shooting For A Comeback

Former president Borut Pahor went on national telly last Sunday and – among other things – said that while he is shocked (shocked!) over events in Gaza, he wouldn’t go so far to describe them as genocide. This was a direct rebuke of his successor Nataša Pirc Musar who did describe the atrocities in Palestine as genocide during her European Parliament address.

Borut Pahor on national television, avoiding the definition of a genocide (source) — *Borut Pahor avoiding the definition of a genocide (source)*

Obviously, what Borut Pahor says or does not say, has no influence on facts on the ground. It only reinforces the image of a self-serving (former?) politician, unable to take a principled stance on even the most basic of ethical questions. But it also raises (for the lack of a better word) an interesting question: has he gone mental? Because word on the street is that Pahor is attempting a political comeback.

Janez Janša Forever And Ever

What do Janez Janša and PFAS have in common? Apparently, both are forever. That, at least, is one of the takeaways of the SDS congress that took place this past weekend. The other takeaway being that the Party and its Glorious Leader will (again) go for broke.

Janez Janša during his acceptance speech. With almost 40 years as SDS president he is basically a forever president. — *Janez Janša humbly accepting four more years as Party leader (source)*

Janša won his tenth consecutive term as SDS leader by a lopsided 98.4 % of the vote. This makes him the longest-serving living party leader in Europe, bar none. And even among the dearly departed party chiefs, the only one to have served longer than Marshal Twito is, well, OG Marshal Tito.

Coalition Loses Arts Referendum

That sound you hear right now is the sound of a can of whoop-ass being opened on the Golob government. In today’s referendum, the SDS-backed NO vote won with as much as 93 percent of the vote, which is about as clear a result as you can get. The coalition gambled by calling for a vote boycott and lost. Bigly.

Referendum ballot in today's vote on artists' pension bonuses — *Referendum ballot*

Maybe now Levica and GS will finally learn that calling for electoral boycotts is not really their thing. True, this referendum was an uphill battle for them from the start. But by choosing not to play and hoping for the best is not a strategy, either.

Art Pensions Referendum: Has The Coalition Even Said Thank You To US Embassy Once?

In four days this sorry little excuse for a country will vote on a referendum that is fucking bizarre. Namely, the question at hand is whether outstanding artists should get a state-funded bonus to their pensions after retirement. Things got even bizarre-er when the US embassy in Ljubljana waded in on the issue.

US Embassy in Slovenia tweeted a quote by J.D. Vance and waded into a referendum campaign on art pensions. — *Screenshot of the offending US Embassy Tweet (source)*

The provision on pensions has been on the books for nearly five decades. Since 19-goddamn-74, to be precise. Golob government, specifically Levica coordinatrix Asta Vrečko, sought to update it and fix some loopholes. But the SDS never met a referendum opportunity it didn’t like and so they went all in.