Slovenia | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

The Nature Of The Beast

Pengovsky skipped on blogging altogether last week and he really has no excuse other than…. Ah well, there’s no excuse, really. Sleeping is for pussies. But there you go 🙂 Anyways, there’s a lot to write about. The date for municipal elections has been set, a referendum is to be held on the new Ljubljana zoning act, Kosovo‘s independence has been declared legal, PM Pahor is doing rounds on post-war graves, Nova Ljubljanska Banka just barely passed the stress test, so shit is going on.

However, pengovsky has an axe to grind first.

Authors of the manifesto in audience with PM Pahor (photo by Voranc Vogel/Delo)

Last week (or was it a week before?) a group of journalists of pengovsky’s generation (i.e.: not as young as we’d like to be, but “young” for all intents and purposes, especially with regard to the old journalistic farts out there) issued a plea, nay, a list of seven demands, prompted by yet another shady media takeover or an attempt thereof.

The straw that broke the camel’s back

Namely. Laško Brewery, now headed by Dušan Zorko is desperate to get its finances in order after Boško Šrot wrecked havoc during his prolonged and ultimately failed MBO. One of the brewery’s assets is also an indirect stake in Maribor-based Večer daily, which is officially owned by Delo daily which in turn is owned by Laško Brewery. To cut a long story short: Delo has to unload Večer due to possible competition infringement, while Laško needs assets and will possibly have to sell Delo as well. It turned out that Delo’s 75% share in Večer will be bought by a Murska Sobota-based IT company 3LAN, which has no record of media ownership or even anything remotely connected to the field. The sum? 9,4 million euro.

One can see from a mile away that 3LAN is basically someone’s straw company. The company does not have even remotely enough assets to buy Večer. It’s total assets amount to some 350.00 euro, while it ran a 44.000 euro profit in 2009. It employs four people. Not what one would call a traditional media owner.

The manifesto

Journos went apeshit. It looked the same old story all over again, only with different players. With the situation in the industry hitting new lows basically daily, this was only the last push a group of journos in their 30s (or thereabouts) needed to draft a seven-points list of demands which the government must in their view fulfil if Slovenia is to have a decent media market. The abridged version is as follows

1. Media are institutions of particular importance which ensure the constitutional right of citizens to be informed.

2. Before OKing a sale of 20+% of a particular media, the ministry of culture must obtain an opinion of journalist of media in question

3. When credible suspicion that the buyer is a straw company is aroused, ministry must act and alert relevant institutions.

4. Managerial and editorial functions must be separate unless agreed otherwise by the journalists of the media in question

5. Journalists must give their consent to all crucial decisions of the media company affecting their work, including changing of content profile, appointing and dismissing editors, et cetera.

6. The law on media should stipulate that journalists should use the highest ethical and professional standards in their work

7. Every journalists must be allowed a degree of autonomy and independence regardless of any and all personal circumstances (including but not limited to race, gender, sexual and political orientation)

Now. In general, there’s nothing wrong the above list. Pengovsky might take an issue with a couple of points which either show that the authors are naïve or have little idea about the other – managerial – side of the business. But be that as it may, their demands are not the real problem. The problem is to whom they made them.

Upon drafting the list of demands (which could liberally be even interpreted as a manifesto), the leaders of the movement demanded an audience first with minister of culture Majda Širca and then with Prime Minister Borut Pahor. Both agreed to meet them and listen to their demands. And this where problems start.

When one of your job descriptions is to keep tabs on what the government says and does, the last thing you want to do is call them to help.

Just who do you think you are?

Let me explain. What we witnessed Monday before last was a pure lobbying action. A couple of people used their access to decision makers to plead their case. If the media owners had done it, it would be sort of OK (I’m knowingly neglecting the fact that it would be taken as a final proof that these-and-these media are pro-government). Hey, if you run a big business and run into a problem, the PM can at least be told about it in person.

True, the situation in Slovene media is literally fucked up. Media owners as a rule have no concept of what they want to do with their assets and generally view them as a tool to further their political and/or business interests. There are notable exceptions to the rule, but in general this is very much true. As a result, the quality of media content is nose-diving and shows no signs of levelling out, let alone rising again. This is further increased by the fact that ever more journos either don’t have the slightest idea about what quality content really is or they just don’t give a fuck and simply go for shameless self promotion, without any regard for what they report on or how they report it. Thus the plea by journalists who are competent (and on the whole, the authors of the manifesto are competent) is even more understandable and welcome.

However, these guys and gals misinterpreted their access to top decision makers as leverage rather than just a cool, if biased, source of information, which is what it really is. Going for cover to the people you cover (pun very much intended) is simply not kosher. It is in fact tantamount to selling one’s soul.

Between a rock and a hard place

Slovene journalists are caught between a rock and a hard place, i.e.: between the urge politicos have to plant their version of the truth and the need of owners to have a content that sells. Years ago, when Janša’s government bulldozed through the media, journalists who would not bow to political pressure skedaddled from some media companies to some others, where they were supposedly safe from having to believe in The One Truth (as interpreted by then-PM Janez Janša and his flock). However, there’s no free lunch and soon those who provided safe haven presented their own bill, mostly in terms of demanding content “that sells” which meant content that is cheap to produce. And a lot of it, if you please.

However, now that media owners are bringing the pressure to bear the younger generation of journalists (for want of a better word) is doing that same mistake, just in the opposite direction. They are seeking alliance with a powerful player (politics) in trying to ease the pressure of the other powerful player (media owners). Needless to say that they too will be presented with a bill.

What they forgot or decided to ignore is the age-old truth that a journalist’s only true ally is his or her public. In this case, the public was ignored, or rather, it was simply notified of the journalists’ plea. It was never asked to get involved actively. Journos may be the ones producing (or being forced to produce) shitty content, but it is the public which consumes it. And the fact that circulation of printed media and ratings of electronic media are dropping fast is one of the indicators that the public is instinctively fed up with the shit Slovene media put out daily.

It’s about the ownership, stupid!

However, pengovsky fears that the fight might already be lost. The sad truth is that quality content can be produced but it is not. Why? Because it is expensive and the owners just won’t have that. And why is that? Because they do not understand the way the media work. And truth be told, it is somewhat hard to understand why ludicrous amounts of money should be spent on journos and their teams chasing stories which more often than not turn out to nothing, financing wild-goose chases and hanging around in bars, binge drinking and trying to pick up rumours. But good content comes from years of experience and the ability (given or acquired) of sorting though tons of bullshit to find what is really important.

But to have the balls to pay for that, one must understand media. And no one understands it better than people who work in media. Sadly, they do not own the media. Not anymore, that is. You see, once upon a time, when Slovenia went about its particular version of privatisation, journalists (and other media people) were given stock in the companies they worked for. However in a true early-capitalism manner most of them sold that stock. Sure, they got a new car, maybe even bought a flat, but with that they relinquished what little control they had over the company they worked for. And with that they lost the leverage on what is being produced.

Which brings us to the very core of the manifesto: the question of journalistic autonomy. In this case, the autonomy from short-term interests of media owners. Which is all fine and dandy. I mean, it would be nice if the owners, editors and journos would be on the same boat as far as content and development of any given media company is concerned, but the responsibility for making this happen lies predominantly with the owners. However, politics is neither the place to seek autonomy not the instrument by which it will be achieved. It never was and it never will be. Again, the only way Slovene journos regain their autonomy is by winning back the respect and appreciation of the reading (viewing, listening) public.

Blood money

Therefore if (and pengovsky has no reason to believe otherwise) proponents of this latest journalistic cry for help really want to bring Slovene media to a new high, they should get the public, not politics, behind them. The way they went about it now is trying to do the right thing for the right cause, but fucking up big time. Not unlike what Judas did some 2k years ago, at least according to Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Oh, and one more thing: The fight for autonomy never ends. It’s just the nature of the beast. And a little pressure usually is a good thing. It keeps one on their toes.

Someone Nicked The President’s Car

And I don’t mean his Volkswagen, Volvo, or whatever it is Danilo Türk used to drive before he got elected. No, I mean his official wheels, a 2007 BMW 530ix which is (well, was) a part of presidential motor-fleet. Worth around 30k €, the car was apparently stolen almost a month ago in Ljubljana. According to POP TV, the car was used by one of the drivers, whereupon it was broken into and driven away.

Wanted: Presidental Beemer (source)

While we may be dealing with simple case of grand theft auto here, there is a distinct possibility that the car was stolen for purposes other than just delivery somewhere East of Ukraine. Those of you who follow this blog a bit longer will remember that theft at this high a level is not uncommon in this country. Chances are, this is just another entry in the ever-longer list of security breaches that are never fully explained or investigated (at least officially). Just like post-election break-in into headquarters of Social Democrats in early 2009.

I mean, seriously, people?! If security at the highest level of politics sucks that much, then Slovene security services are a bunch of diletantes and amateurs. But I’m not buying that. Not yet, anyway. Since we’re dealing with a presidential limo, the possibility of this being an intelligence job, increases dramatically and a thorough cleaning of the barn is probably in order. But whatever the case, this is one big multi-level fuck-up.

Janković Comes To Collect. Or At Least Wants To.

Contrary to his promises and expectations Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković did not open the Stožice stadium and sports hall on 30 June as neither is yet finished. Having initially been scheduled for autumn 2008, the project was postponed when it transpired that the city of Ljubljana did not own all necessary real estate on the building site and had to negotiate with owners who got the land returned to them in a de-nationalization process. Construction of the Stožice complex, which includes a football stadium, a sports hall, a huge shopping centre and a similarly big parking lot, began in late March 2009 with deadline for completion set on 30 June 2010. That is to say, two weeks ago

Mayor Janković and PM Pahor at Stožice some weeks ago probably not debating horticultural tips (source)

The complex is being built under a public-private partnership, where (in a nutshell) the city invested the land into the project whereas the private partner (or partners) will build a shopping centre as well as sports facilities. Private partner will pay its 51% of the project by transferring sports facilities back to city ownership and (presumably) make money by renting out or selling real estate in the shopping centre. That’s the gist of it, anyway.

Skipping the rock and roll the project was engulfed in from the start, the situation today is as follows: The sports facilities are nearly complete, as are parking lots and all other necessary infrastructure (connecting roads, etc). The problem is that the money ran out, since the investors were paying for the project out of their own pocket, hoping to get a credit line which

The investors at this point need somewhere in the vicinity of 150 million euro to finish the entire project (shopping centre included). The sporting facilities alone need some 20 million which would cover for “unplanned” construction (i.e.: someone “forgot” to plan for a training football pitch and hall). And this is where mayor Janković’s woes began.

In ideal circumstances the private partner (a company called Grep, established by Gradis G and Energoplan, two relatively powerful construction companies) would sign a credit line with one or more banks, get the money and get to work. The thing is that this credit line failed to materialise, despite the fact that apparently a syndicate of banks made an offer of such a credit line to Grep way back in January this year. And this is where – as always – things get interesting.

Upon realising (or admitting) that some public funding will be necessary for completion of the project, mayor Janković turned to the state for help. Naturally, this was a not-so-small victory for numerous critics of the project. But Janković maintained (and still maintains) that the city will not fork out a single euro in cash for the project, so he called upon the government to help out with 20 mils.

Let’s be honest: Janković wanted to cash in the heavy political backing he gave to the political left on at least two occasions (2008 elections and 2010 referendum on the arbitration agreement), not to mention the fact that he sees himself and the city he runs as the first line of defence against a political counter-offensive Janez Janša and his SDS will hope to mount in the coming months.

Janković found a sympathetic ear with minister for education and sports Igor Lukšič (of PM Pahor’s Social Democrats) who proposed that the government fork out the cash. However, his colleague (both in government and in the party) finance minister Franci Križanič categorically refused, saying that there’s no legal ground to approve emergency budget funding and that Lukšič can go and spend his budget funds if he so wishes. The catch is that just about that time Prime Minister Borut Pahor announced a 500 million euros worth of spending cuts and naturally it wouldn’t look good if almost 5% of that sum were spent on finishing the Stožice project.

There can be little doubt that the current government owes quite a lot to Zoran Janković. He went out on a limb in support of this government and its policies on several occasions and even though he may not be the sole reason the left won the elections or that the arbitration agreement was ratified on the referendum, he sure as hell helped a lot. So yes, Pahor’s government is indebted to mayor Janković. And debts need to be settled. The problem is that it is being done with taxpayers’ money.

But before we get there, there’s one other aspect we need to cover. Although Janković sees himself as being on the same team with all coalition parties on the national level, he is very much NOT on the same team with them on the local level. This is true especially in the case of Ljubljana branch of Social Democrats, who were one of the two strongest parties in the city until he came along in 2006 and decimated them in elections (cutting the number of their city councillors from thirteen to four, if memory serves).

The powers that were (but were to be no more) never forgave him. This goes especially for leadership of Ljubljana Social Democrats, personified in this case by Metka Tekavčič who (among other things) is widely credited for kick-starting Borut Pahor’s political career. Tekavčič was also considered an eminence grise of the Ljubljana City Council and her nod was vital if one wanted to get things done in this town.

With Janković’s ascent her star faded at least temporarily and she did not take it lightly. The two almost immediately took a disliking to each other and matters weren’t helped with Janković’s tenderness of a bulldozer on steroids when it came to passing decisions through the Council. Their animosity soured even more in the past few months and at the moment the seem to love hating each other’s guts. Which is the sort of environment Janković usually thrives in. But it just so happens that finance minister Križanič is also vice-chairman of SD’s Ljubljana branch and one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that Križanič’s resolve not to fork out the cash on the national level is at the very least strengthened by the sour relations between leadership of Ljubljana SD and mayor Janković (hint, hint 🙂 )

However, word on the street has it that finance minister Križanič is the least of Janković’s problems. After all, it’s just 20 millions in a project estimated at around 350 million euro. It’s the 150 million credit line which both Grep and Janković are worried about. And rightfully so, it seems. The principal bank of the syndicate in state-owned Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB). And if oracles are to be believed, minister for development Mitja Gaspari (formerly of LDS and presently of SD – since 2008) has a lot of leverage both with the banks Supervisory board as well as its management and it is reportedly him who is not all that keen on seeing the Stožice project being bankrolled. Whether the reason for that is the fact that NLB is not in the best of shapes as it is or whether it is something else, remains a mystery, but there you go.

Banks have reportedly been repeatedly raising the bar for Grep to finally get the credit line. The first benchmark Grep had to meet was having to sign leases for about 45% of all retail space. Grep met this condition, but suddenly banks raised it to 60%, plus some sort of state involvement. And this is where the whole thing just got even more political.

According to Finance daily the contract on bankrolling Stožice project is being signed today (or by the end of the week at the latest). Whether or not this has to do with the fact that Lukšić’s ministry just issued a tender for “co-financing sporting facilities of national importance” we will probably never know for sure, but fact of the matter is that ministry of sport is prepared to spend 9.4 million (8.0m of that is EU funding) on “various” eligible sports facilities with estimated project value of more than 5 million euro. You guessed it, at the moment Stožice project is probably the only one eligible for funding right now, and the tender closes on 25 July. In 10 days.

As minister Lukšič (if not the government) is bending over backwards to lend mayor Janković a helping hand, the opposition is going apeshit. They’ve been foaming at the mouth with rage from the very moment it transpired that NLB is the principal bank in the syndicate. Former minister of economy Andrej Vizjak (SDS) was fuming that a state-owned bank will be saving a project gone wrong and that it will never get its money back (curiously enough he had no problem with the state itself funding the operational costs of Stožice sports facilities). Vizjak backed off, after it was explained to him (time and again) that the syndicate will finance the shopping centre (i.e: the private part of the investment) and not the public part (stadium and sports hall), but the avalanche had started and SDS is careful to make as little distinction between the two, branding the almost-completed (!) project as one huge fuck-up.

And now that Lukšič came to the (sort of a) rescue the opposition as a whole went hysterical and announced an interpelation against the minister. The lead MP in this enterprise is none other than Franc Pukšič, formerly of SDS and now of SLS, who just happens to be (lookie, lookie!) mayor of municipality of Destrnik. Now, don’t get me wrong: The opposition can go about filing interpelations as they please. They can even do it repeatedly (as we’ve seen in the case of Katarina Kresal). But when a four-term MP, who is also a mayor of a provincial municipality and is an expert at bringing the bacon home (I love that phrase!), yaps on about misappropriation of public and EU funds and direct government assistance (which as we all know, is a big no-no in the EU), then I smell another case of double-standards.

Anyways, time is running out. The new deadline for opening what will be known as The Stožice Centre is set for 30 July, with the first basketball game (Slovenia vs. Spain) scheduled for 10 August and the first football game (Slovenia vs. Australia) scheduled a day later. Jose Carreras is due to give a concert on 7 October and Leonard Cohen will make a stop in Arena Stožice on 12 October (although some people may be forced to attend his concert at gunpoint. Kidding! 😉 ). Neglecting the political fallout Janković would undoubtedly have to endure in local election if the stadium and the sports hall were not finished in time, pengovsky cannot in all honesty imagine the humiliation which would ensue if the game with Australia would have to be relocated to – say – Maribor. Yes, in that sense the Stožice project is indeed completely and utterly local in nature 🙂

Lahovnik To Quit As Minister And MP (His Schwartz Just Ain’t Big Enough)

Lahovnik and Golobič while they were still on the same team (source)

Yesterday the government communication office released the infamous letter minister of economy Matej Lahovnik sent to Prime Minister Borut Pahor in which he detailed grievances against his former party boss and ministerial colleague Gregor Golobič. Lahovnik’s adios to Zares was not really a surprise, but the timing left a lot of people, yours truly included, a bit baffled. Pengovsky speculated on reasons why Lahovnik took the Fatboy Slim approach (right here, right now) and now it turns out that he thought his Schwartz was bigger than anyone else’s and he turned out to be dead wrong. As a result, he announced his resignation earlier today and even said that he will not re-take his position as MP.

The letter was widely expected to be a bomb-shell. It turned out to be a dud. Basically, Lahovnik complained that companies owned by or connected with Ultra (a company in which Gregor Golobič owns a 7% stake) applied for public tenders and such. Lahovnik’s main grievance – at least according to the letter – was the very fact that a company in which a sitting minister owns a stake runs for public funds. But the devil is – as always – in the details. Lahovnik goes on to write that in no instance (at least no instance which he detailed) did any of the companies win any tenders, but – and this is where he seems genuinely pissed – in one case the company files a lawsuit against his ministry for kicking it out of the tender.

Let’s be brutal. The fact that a company, where a sitting minister (or any other elected and/or public official) owns a stake, no matter how small, runs for a public tender, is not entirely cricket. The world would be a much nicer place if these things didn’t happen. However, the Ultra issue was over and done with. At least on relation Golobič-> Zares-> Coalition-> Government (the opposition is still trying to keep the whole affair simmering on a low temperature). If Lahovnik had a problem with that, he should have quit months ago.

From a legal point of view, however, there is nothing wrong with Ultra (or any other similar company) running for public funds. The law stipulates that a company where a public official and/or his immediate keen hold more than 20% stake cannot take part in public tenders. And if it does it anyway, it simply gets thrown out. Pengovsky should know, it happened once with The Firm™. No ifs, not buts, one simply gets a nice letter saying “Sorry, you can’t take part due to anti-corruption legislation”.

But Golobič’s share in Ultra is not above 20%. It is not even, say, 19.5%, which would imply that he is following the letter if not the spirit of the law. No, he holds a 7% share, which he apparently earned by working for the company and that’s it. There are scores of public officials which own various stakes in various companies. After all, we are running a sort of capitalism in Slovenia. But Lahovnik goes on to say, that he finds it hard to believe that Golobič would not use his influence to put Ultra at an unfair advantage vis-a-vis other companies running for tenders. That may be, but in all honesty, you don’t need to have a sitting minister among your stakeholders to better your business positions. All you need to do is know the right people.

However, as noted above, Ultra did not win any of the tenders Lahovnik takes issue with. So, not only was no law broken by Ultra running for tenders, even if pressure was brought to bear, the system worked and threw Ultra’s application out on merit. The fact that the company then filed a suit against Lahovnik’s ministry over it only reiterates the fact that the system worked, because seeking legal protection against what an applicant deems an unfair decision is perfectly normal. It is done by scores of companies practically on a weekly basis.

So, on the face of it it looks as if Lahovnik doesn’t really understand how the system works. Which is kind of hard to believe for a minister who runs a pretty important ministry and (among other things) gave thins country a electronic one-stop-shop system (e-VEM) for setting up your own company.

So, waddafuck is going on? It looks more and more that there was a clash between Lahovnik and Golobič. Either there was some sort of a leadership challenge (less likely, as Lahovnik reportedly refused taking over Zares) or – more likely – Lahovnik felt Golobič was pissing in his pool and wanted to put an end to it. Only he played his cards wrong and put an end to his political life (at least temporarily).

Namely. One area Lahovnik specifies in the letter is the energy sector. There’s a relatively huge debate going on right now in Slovenia whether to invest in Bloc 6 of Šoštanj Coal Power Plant (so called TEŠ6) or to start building the second reactor in Krško Nuclear Power Plant (known as NEK). Pengovsky says “both” and there seems to be a general consensus that Slovenia will need both investments in the mid-term, but the real question is which comes first. Lahovnik was very much in favour of TEŠ6, as it will replace the ageing blocs 3,4 and 5 and produce much less carbon dioxide to boot. However, since Šoštanj is part of Lahovnik’s electoral unit (constituency, if you will), this can also be seen as “bringing the bacon home“, to use an Americanism. Which would all be fine and dandy, had it not been for the fact that some dubious contracts were being signed for TEŠ6 even before the project started for real. I’m not saying that Lahovnik had a hand in this (he probably didn’t) and regardless of his feud with Golobič, energy still is Zares’ turf right now and if there’s a screw-up, Zares as a whole will take the blame anyway. But it seems probable that he felt he was being side-tracked and he took it personally.

The more pengovsky looks at this the more it seems as if Lahovnik only tried to do as much damage as possible and brought up the Ultra affair for no reason other than to hurt Golobič. But he took it too far and forced PM Pahor to choose between a seemingly competent minister and a whole coalition party. Pahor obviously knew where his priorities are and Lahovnik achieved nothing but maybe yet another dent in the government’s already ridiculously low ratings. As a result he really had no other option but to quit his post and PM Pahor undoubtedly told him that his credit just ran out.

This goes for his MP status as well. Upon quitting as minister he could have re-taken his MP seat as he was elected to the parliament first and made minister second. Thus he would have ousted Alojz Posedel of Zares, chipped off one sure vote for the coalition and would even help form a new parliamentary group “independent MPs”, as parliamentary Rules and Procedures specify three MPs are needed for establishing a specific group and there are already two independent MPs (Franci Žnidaršič and Vili Rezman who quit DeSUS months ago), all of which would probably weaken the coalition grip on parliamentary majority, if not immediately, definitely some time in the future.

However, Lahovnik was probably told in no unclear terms that he would be branded a political leper had he returned to the parliament and started stirring shit, so he is apparently returning to the Faculty of Economics from whence he came – and will possibly be awarded membership in one or two low-key supervisory boards somewhere out there. He might have thought he was doing a good thing, but in politics, just as in real life, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Such is the nature of the beast.

Oh, and just a technicality. Some Slovene media erroneously report that Lahovnik’s function will cease tomorrow. Not entirely true. While he has already tendered his resignation, he will remain in office in a care-taker capacity until a new minister is appointed.

Lahovnik Quits Zares

Matej Lahovnik, formerly of Zares (source)

Minister of economy Matej Lahovnik yesterday quit Zares party. While the move is not entirely surprising, it wasn’t as if Lahovnik’s departure was the talk of the town in the last few days, so the gravity of the situation should bot be underestimated.

At this point one can only suspect what led Lahovnik to jump the party boat. In his statement yesterday evening he said that handling the economy portfolio is a demanding job that »being a member of a party no longer makes sense«. Obviously, this is utter bullshit. Just by being a member of a party one is in no way impeded in being a minister. However, there are a couple of ideas floating around why Lahovnik couldn’t reconcile one with another.

First of all it should be noted that in the last year or so Lahovnik went to great lengths in avoiding strictly political functions. Even when PM Pahor called a coalition huddle in late December 09, Lahovnik was the only minister to have given the PM a cold shoulder saying that he has no time for political games. And when coalition was of to a rocky start in early 2009 by a series of less-than-appropriate nominations (like that of Draško Veselinovič as CEO of Nova Ljubljanska Banka, to pick an example at random) Lahovnik did not mince words and threatened to walk out of the government, either by himself of with entire party in tow.

On the other hand, there could be trouble at home. Zares leader Gregor Golobič saw his position greatly undermined with the Ultra affair and it is possible that Lahovnik either saw this as a liability and is trying to put a daylight between him and Golobič, or already saw himself as the next party leader, only to be snubbed last week as Golobič was re-elected for another term at the helm of the party.

Thirdly, it is possible that Lahovnik just couldn’t accept certain decisions, which were as much political as were economical. On of the possibilities, which is being often put forward is the decision to expand the existing coal power-plant in Šoštanj where Lahovnik is strongly in favour, while Golobič reportedly has second thoughts over it.

And lastly, it could be that some other shit is brewing we have yet to hear about. Lahovnik was always considered a kind of political maverick, a notion he himself would probably not disagree with. His no-nonsense attitude seems to strike a chord with the electorate and thus he finds himself in a curious position of being a minister of economy in a middle of a recession and yet ranking among top five most popular politicos this side of the Alps.

More details will undoubtedly emerge in the next days, but rumours have it that together with his hasta la vista to the party, Lahovnik also sent a letter to PM Borut Pahor in which he (according to today’s Delo lead) puts the blame for the situation squarely on Golobič. Although it is not entirely clear what the “situation” might be, as the government seems to enjoy a period of relative calm (if one takes the dire economic situation as a normal state of affairs).

Which again brings us to reasons for Lahovnik’s jumping ship. If he didn’t do it in the past when it would be perfectly acceptable for him to do so, if there’s nothing going on right now which would precipitate his quitting the party, then the reason must lie with something that has yet to happen. Either that, or the move was agreed months ago and has for one reason or the other been executed only now.

Be that as it may, a not unimportant question is what Lahovnik’s move does to coalition mathematics. Technically, Zares is entitled to four portfolios under current government structure: Higher Education and Technology, Public Administration, Culture and Economy. Since all of them are strategically placed to ensure maximum party influence on various government policies, losing economy portfolio will definitely hurt Zares’ political influence. OK, truth be said, with Lahovnik running loose almost from the beginning, party influence in this area was limited to begin with, but it did give Zares an important leverage for implementing its political platform. With Lahovnik out of the party the leverage is gone or at the very least severely impeded.

However, if Golobič and Zares demand Lahovnik’s replacement, this would mean the latter would return to serve as MP (elected on Zares ticket, but probably declaring himself independent), meaning that Zares would indeed keep their portfolio, but lose an MP, which would by extension mean that the ruling coalition as a whole would have one less vote in the parliament which in turn might prove a rather big problem down the road, as Slovenia has yet to make some radical decisions if we are to survive the crisis in at least some sort of social and economic order.

Should Zares nevertheless demand PM Pahor replaces Lahovnik, Pahor would be in no position to deny them their demand. But he probably hopes and (pengovsky expects) will frantically work towards Zares never making the demand in the first place. Golobič, for his part, is keeping his options open.

Lahovnik was dubbed a master of political survival. But barring the possibility the coalition is headed for a train-wreck most of us can’t see yet, he might have misjudged his position this time. When he skipped the coalition huddle late last year, PM Pahor reportedly gave him a pretty decent dressing down. And if the push came to a shove, Pahor will probably choose Zares as a whole over Lahovnik, despite the fact that some sources speculate that Lahovnik is liable to switch to Pahor’s own Social Democrats.

But should he do that, Lahovnik would probably soon find out that a) nobody likes a turn-coat, not even those to whom he turns and b) his real value for SD was in him being a troublemaker within Zares – in indeed that is what he was.

Riding a Tiger of Bigotry, Supremacy And Proto-Nazism

Cafe Open a day after the atack (source)

As is usual this time of year, Ljubljana Pride Parade will take place on Saturday. Exactly a year ago, the event was preceded by an incident where a group of Nazi-wannabes raided Café Open in Ljubljana, tried to torch the place and wounded journalist Mitja Blažič. This year it happened all over again.

Now, last year there was a lot of hoopla about it, since the whole thing more or less coincided with Statehood Day celebrations on June 25. It turned out that the perpetrators were members of Green Dragons (the local variety of football hooligans). They were caught pretty soon and properly dealt with in a court of law, where they were convicted to a year and a half behind bars. At the time one was keen to dismiss the incident as an one-off event, despite the growing signs of bigotry in general and homophobia in particular becoming ever more mainstream in a country that as a whole was never tolerant to begin with.

As the trio of attackers was being sentenced, a group of a hundred-or-so hooded young people gathered in front of the Ljubljana courthouse. Again, just a form or free assembly, one might say. Afteral, a year-and-a-half is not a walk in the park. But it was more than that. It was a political statement. Proof was readily provided days ago, when again a group of proto-fascist staged a rally just hours prior to official Statehood day celebrations in Ljubljana.

This time around petrol bombs were thrown on Café Open and the façade was sprayed with slogans the likes of “Death to faggots” and “a bump is a bump, faggot”. Just venting anger? I don’t think so. The same thing (sans petrol bombs) happened at the house of Justice Minister Aleš Zalar, whose wife it turns out was the judge in the above case.

Raiding a café once is a homophobic incident. Raiding it on your country’s birthday is a political statement. Doing it twice is an in-your-face to the state. Raiding the house of a sitting minister and a judge is a direct attack on the country and its institutions. And now a Facebook group against Ljubljana Pride Parade appeared and is gaining membership fast. The group’s description reads “do not entice violence on this group. You can, however, use violence during anti-gay-pride march”. These are not isolated events. What we are seeing is a pattern.

More than a thousand group members are more or less united in the belief that homosexuality is a disease; that gays and lesbians are endangering the nation’s core and that it is all the result of a decadent, liberal and communist-infested society which is in dire need of cleansing. The fact that Facebook profile of Koper branch of Janez Janša’s SDS is listed among the group supporters only reinforces the political angle of the whole story.

Obviously, the mechanism at work is not new. It is “us, normal and patriotic people” against “them, sick unpatriotic fucks”. As if gays and lesbians are any less Slovene on the account of their sexual orientation. The love-it-or-leave-it syndrome is indeed very much present here, case in point being the groups description which (in addition to the above) reads “[gay activists] have Holland, Belgium, Israel and the US and they can spread their disease and evil there”.

However, what never fails to amaze me (and I should be immune to it at this point) is the fact that as a rule, self proclaimed patriots and defenders of Slovene nation, have a problem with Slovene grammar and syntax. Misspelled words, wrong punctuation and complete disregard for the language as a whole seem to be the norm with people who would rid Slovenia of “homo plague” with sword and fire. Furthermore, it is extremely funny how some of these would-be-gay-bashers are young men who posed topless for their Facebook profile pictures brandishing their near-perfect six packs. Time to come out of the closet, boys!

But why worry, one might say. After all this is just a Facebook group. There are scores of groups which bring together small-mined people with supremacist ideas. Well, it is not that simple, you see. If we neglect hate speech, death threats and leading to the use of violence (all criminal offences) which are abundant within the group, fact of the matter is that this group is the ultimate proof that the relationship between far-right, proto-nazi and nationalistic politics and small-minded, bigoted and supremacist public opinion has stopped being linear but is rather elliptical and entered a viscous circle. Thus proto-nazi politics feeds supremacist public opinion which in turn again feed politics, which gives a fresh impetus to the public opinion and so on ad nauseam. Case in point being the debate on the new Family code which resumed this week (as the good doctor noted) and where the political right as a whole again proved that it’s concept of justice, fairness and human rights is perverse to say the least.

During this week’s debate (which is intentionally being prolonged by the opposition, by means of debating every single article of the bill at length) the prize for the asshole of the week went to none other than sitting vice president of the parliament, France Cukjati of Janša’s SDS. Not only did he repeat the non-senses about the code being “unnatural”, that the nation’s future depends on the family being a union of a man and a woman, and so on. But this time he kicked it up a notch and said that “we need the definition of a perfect family otherwise we’ll lose our compass” and then went on to add that “Hitler too had the idea of children without a family”. Not only that, Cukjati’s boss Janez Janša saw it fit to compare abuse, attacks and death threats against Slovenian gay population to a death threat he received (sort of) on the internet while he was PM, where it turned out that an on-duty cop wrote that Janša should be “put away”. Needles to say that the guy who did that was located within days.

While it is somewhat surprising to see Godwin’s Law being applicable to national parliaments as well, this only shows the amount of manipulation and deceit opponents of the Code are willing to commit. First you declare a family exclusively as a union of a man and a woman and at the very next step you claim that kids who live in a same-sex family don’t have family at all. Ergo, they are considered second-class citizens whom it is all right to abuse. Sounds familiar? Who’s walking in Hitler’s footsteps now, biyatch!

Pengovsky said time and again that one should never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. But the problem with riding a tiger is that you cannot get off. And the tiger the ever more mainstream elements of Slovene political right are riding just got out of control. This will spiral into a massive outpour of some sort of discontent and by then parties which are happily providing “moral” cover for gay-bashers, bigots and supremacists, will have to deliver on their rhetoric. And that is dangerous.

P.S.: A special mention goes to Manični Poet for his take on things titled Family Code: If you’re not against, you’re a faggot (Slovene only)

Hate Slovenia Week (pre-match warm-up)

Big game tomorrow. As you know Slovenia plays USA in second round of Group C in World Cup in South Africa. I will not bore you with punditisms. Bob knows there’s too much of that going around as it is. They are fun to read, though. Apparently no one expects a beautiful game as both teams play a 4-4-2 formation which will provide for a lot of manhandling in the midfield. Add to that the fact that both teams need a victory (although Slovenia could do with a draw provided a favourable turn of events in the third round) and you can bet on tomorrow’s match not being a pretty sight.

“That’s NOT the way to do it”. pengovsky’s entry for SLO:USA jibes on twitter

However. As if to offset that a more or less good-natured jibes and quips started appearing on Twitter under the hasthag Hate Slovenia Week (#hatesloveniaweek). Thus Byrnes_Gregory says that “To get in the mindset of my enemy, I am not going to bathe and pretend like I have no food, agh the Slovenian life“, while fogs2 shares a link by Dr. Soccer who in turn reveals The Top 5 Ways To Tell The Difference Between Slovakia & Slovenia in a rather unflattering way. And last but certainly not least, the legendary-cum-lethargic talk-show host David Letterman takes a swipe at the smallest country in the tournament.

Slovene part of the twittersphere of course started returning fire. The good doctor found that even the legendary-cum-came president Clinton conceded that the “US Declaration of independence was based on an ancient Slovene ritual” and kricac noted that “Kleenex shares at record high ahead of tomoorow’s SLO:USA match. 309M Americans expected to cry like babies.” And you can see pengovsky’s small contribution above 🙂

So, what’s your prediction for the game? 😈