SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

On Wednesday Slovene parliament formed a committee which is to investigate suspicions of corruption in actions of minister of science, technology and higher education Gregor Golobič. Championed by opposition SDS, this committee is a direct result of the Ultra Affair, where Golobič shot himself in the knee by omitting from his public statements a 7% ownership of company Ultra. Although it subsequently transpired that he had reported his share to the anticorruption commission (an independent agency), all hell broke loose, especially after allegations surfaced that Ultra got 21 million euros in unsecured loans. Although Ultra divulged information proving otherwise (6 milion euros in loans, with proper collateral), the media and political rampage had started, with Golobič being styled as a tycoon (a Slovenian version of an oligarch).

We will be seeing more of Golobič in this particular setting (source: 24ur.com/POPTV)

Winston Churchill once famously said that if you want to bury something, you should form a committee. In this case, however, the purpose of the committee seems to be exactly the opposite: to prolong this Ultra/Golobič business beyond any reasonable limits. OK, so you could say that the whole thing has become so muddled with disinformation, omissions and outright lies that it warrants a parliamentary inquiry. After all, the man is a government minister and should be as such subject to more public scrutiny than the rest of us mortals. To be sure, when scribing for the only Sunday rag this side of the Alps, pengovsky submitted that parliament should debate the business at hand and that it should be Zares, Golobič’s party which should start the debate in the form of interpelation of their own minister. Thus would both Golobič as well his opponents be given a chance to confront their views (to cross the swords, if you will) and get it over with.

However, opposition leader Janez Janša ruled out the possibility of interpelation quite early in the game. Somewhat surprisingly, he was quite candid about his motives when he said that interpelation of Gregor Golobič woud have achieved nothing, since the coalition would surely have supported their minister and the work and debates of the opposition would have been in vain. When considering this rare outburst of generous truthfulness by Janez Janša, one should keep in mind that it took place shortly after minister of interior Katarina Kresal survived her own interpelation and vote of confidence, which could have left Janša a bit dejected. On the other hand, it was only months before the wedding and he could have been focusing on other thin….err…. people 😈

Be that as it may, the fact remains that JJ’s imitation of Frank and Ernest clearly showed that the newly minted Mr. Bačovnik is not interested in debating or clearing up the Ultra affair, but only in removing Gregor Golobič from power, which basically confirms the original thesis, that the committee called for by SDS serves one purpose and one purpose only: to keep the Ultra affair artificially alive long after its echoes would have died down of their own accord. Namely: this particular committee (call it Golobič Committee) will exist for the duration of this parliament, which means that its findings (insofar as there will be any) will be published just before 2012 parliamentary election campaign will begin. No points for guessing what the opening salvo by SDS will look like.

Being called before a parliamentary investigative committee can be an gruesome ordeal, especially, if you are the subject of an investigation, which Gregor Golobič is. Incidentally, this is the first time such a committee was formed to investigate a specific person rather than an event or a series of events involving one or more public officials. Thus a sort of taboo was broken and the opposition will no doubt do its damnest to make it their worth while and make life extremely unpleasant for minister Golobič. My favourite prime minister is a great source of applicable quotes, as PM Borut Pahor so often reminds us. Among other things Winston also said that if you should find yourself in hell, keep going. Which is precisely what minister Golobič will have to do for the next four years. One would think that being a party president is punishment enough but apparently that was not the end. It wasn’t even the beginning of an end, but it was merely an end of a beginning (sorry, I couldn’t resist :)).

So what Gregor Golobič can do is to attend every single hearing, provide every single piece of information and answer all questions at length, no matter how stupid, inflammatory and biased they might be. And trust me, since the committee will most likely be stuffed with opposition heavyweights, the whole thing might from time to time easily look a bit a trial by the Spanish Inquisition. Odds are that more details about his ownership in Ultra will emerge, which will be interpreted in the most sinister way possible. It is also entirely probable that his own party will start questioning Golobič and his ability to lead. Not that Zares has much to choose from in terms of leaders (in this respect they’re like any other Slovenian party) but that has never stopped short-sighted egoists from trying to claim their twenty pieces of silver.

I will be thoroughly surprised if Branko Grims (Janša’s chief attack dog and Goebbels wannabe) will not be a member of the committee and even more thoroughly surprised if he will not repeat over and over that a) Ultra took out 21 million euros of unsecured loans, b) that Golobič’s share of Ultra is worth some 5 million euros and c) that this makes Golobič a tycoon. The fact that none of the above is true bear little or no relevance to Grims who (to add insult to injury) is partly related to Golobič (their wives are cousins, apparently) and who will no doubt ignore every evidence refuting claims of the opposition, driving home the message of a corrupt and incompetent left government, personified in this case by that horrible übertycoon Golobič.

BTW: in case you’re interested, based of publicly available information one can conclude the following: a) Ultra claims to have taken out 6 million euros worth of loans with propper collaterals and has provided data to corroborate. b) Golobič’s share of Ultra is worth (according to a rough estimate based of their 2008 report) either 180.000 euros (7% of company capital) or 1,8 million euros (7% of total company assets), depending on how you estimate a company’s value and c) while there is no textbook definition of a tycoon in Slovene political terminology (making the term applicable according to daily needs, predominantly those of Janša’s SDS) it was generally accepted that Slovenian tycoons have attempted to buy out state owned (or partly state owned) companies they ran. The buy out would usually take place in the form of an MBO which was financed by unusually generous loans from several banks, at least some of which are state owned too. That is how Janez Janša while he was Prime Minister helped transform Boško Šrot and Igor Bavčar from more or less successful managers into full-fledged tycoons (Slovenian style), leaving it to the current government to clean up the mess. Gregor Golobič, on the other hand, does not fit the above description, as 1) he has no direct role in running Ultra, 2) the comapny is not nor was never state owned.

While media and (by extension) the public will suck up every detail about the alleged millions, the whole story probably still has to do with Golobič bringing the Directorate of Communication under his control. Pengovsky maintains that was probably one of the few sound moves this government did so far, but Golobič is bound to take some serious flak for it, especially since the opposition will maintain that he did it to ease access to government money to Ultra. The problem is that there is no way Golobič can prove in advance that he didn’t do it for precisely that reason. He can of course give his word that this is not the case, but at the moment that isn’t saying much, given the fact that he has a credibility problem.

Pengovsky already wrote that had Golobič really had sinister motives, he’d have left the Directorate where it was: within the ministry of commerce, headed by his party colleague Matej Lahovnik. Moving the Directorate only brought unnecessary attention to it, which is something he and Ultra would have wanted to avoid if they really had sinister motives. So, rationally speaking, the very fact that Golobič moved the Directorate under his control indicates that he did it for all the right reasons. Naturally, the opposition and most of the media will probably not see it that way, which means that minister of science will have to weather that one out and hope that the message will somehow get through. It would help, of course, if Ultra indeed doesn’t do business with Golobič’s ministry, although legally there is nothing that can prevent it from applying for tenders. A company becomes illegible for doing business with the government only when a public official owns 20% share or higher. Gregor Golobič, as noted above, owns about 7% of Ultra.

So, while minister Golobič was less than candid when (not) revealing his ownership of Ultra, the opposition is preparing to drag him through the mud for the next three and a half years, not seeking the truth, but rather seeking to neutralise Golobič politically. It is quite possible, though, that they bit off more than they can chew. Golobič is not your average Slovenian political twat who doesn’t know his ass-hole from his ear-hole, but a highly intelligent individual, who is capable of tearing his opponents to pieces rhetorically. He is also capable of making members of the committee nervous and make them look like bunch of buffoons. And while he runs the risk of being overwhelmed by sheer volume of stupidity which is bound to emerge during the lifetime of this committee (pengovsky often warns about stupid people in large groups), I can hardly wait for remakes of “mortadella” exchanges.

For the uninitiated: in early nineties, when the newly minted democratic coalition ran the country, it tried to find people responsible for arresting Janez Janša in 1988. Specifically, it tried to pin the blame on then-President Milan Kučan and Stane Dolanc. In 1988 Kučan was head of the Communist Party in Slovenia, while Dolanc (A Slovenian Party heavyweight) was federal interior minister in Belgrade. The two conversed often, and the committee was for some reason interested in one particular debate, trying to establish a link between Kučan and Janša’s arrest via Dolanc. When asked about it, Kučan calmly replied that he and Dolanc were talking about how to slice a prosciutto, while Dolanc said that Kučan was wrong and that they talked about how to cut up mortadella: in slices or in cubes. The answers completely baffled and humiliated members of the committee, who until that time failed to realise that they were barking up the wrong tree.

We’ll see if the political right wing learned anything from their previous failures. Maybe they’ll finally be able to come up with a half-decent investigative committee. Or maybe, they’ll stick to what they know and prove once again that the harder they try, the dumber they look. How will we know? Simple: If the opposition will again try to use the famous quote by Slavoj Žižek against Gregor Golobič. Years ago this world-famous Slovene philosopher said of Golobič (they’re great friends, btw) that he sees him as Slovene Stalin. While it was more than obvious that it was meant as a joke, Janša and the entire opposition failed to get it and interpreted it literally. That’s how dumb they can be.

On Friday evening a routine passport control on a train crossing from Slovenia to Croatia almost turned ugly. A passanger on that train, Josip Zagajski, a Croatian war veteran was, supposedly flagged in the Schengen system as having been expelled from Germany in 2008 after apparently serving an eight-year prison sentence for throwing a hand grenade on Turkish embassy in Berlin. After being held for detailed search, and quite possibly refused entry in the EU, Zagajski took out a hand grenade and pulled out the safety pin, apparently wanting to detonate it. It was only a quick reaction by the police officer present that prevented a catastrophe, as he grabbed Zagajski’s wrist and prevented him from releasing the catch which would detonate the grenade.

After Zagajski was neutralised and handcuffed, he turned out to be armed with four additional hand grenades and he claimed that he boarded the train to assassinate Slovenian PM Borut Pahor, because Slovenia unjustly blocked Croatian entry into the EU. Zagajski turned out to have been among defenders of Vukovar during war in Croatia, where he received a head wound and was subsequently held in a Serbian concentration camp, where he was allegedly tortured. After the war, he was declared 90% disabled on account of his psyhological disorders (results of his head wound) combined with PTSD, commonly (but mistakenly) known as the Vietnam syndrome.

After being questioned at Dobova rail road border crossing, Zagajski said that there were a number of his accomplices on the Ljubljana-bound train, which – as a result – was boarded by swat teams after it pulled into Ljubljana railway station. Every passenger was searched and the train swiped for explosives, but luckily none were found.

SWAT teams on Ljubljana Railway Station on Friday Night (photo by Igor Zaplatil/Delo)

Naturally, the whole thing exploded with full force at the moment PM Pahor’s name was mentioned. Media went into a frenzy with big fat titles announcing a botched assassination attempt, newly minted Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor called her Slovenian counterpart to assure him that he denounced Zagajski’s actions and that violence should never be used to solve problems, while PM himself told the press that he feels perfectly safe.

Which was of course true. While the border police were wrestling with the deranged war veteran, trying to save lives, the PM was safely tucked away in the Rogla skiing resort, where Social Democrats met to debate the current achievements (or lack thereof) of Pahor’s goverment. Prior to the meeting some pretty consistent rumours floated around that some sort of mutiny against Pahor will be mounted, possibly led by his party VP and traffic minister Patrick Vlačič (who, incidently, got himself in a pretty bad fix weeks ago, when his car, with him in it, overtook a traffic jam on a highway by driving in the slow lane using flashing blue lights, a privilege he is not entitled to, all because he wanted to be on-time for a talk show).

The mutiny apparently didn’t take place, but the hand grenade incident allowed Pahor to step in front of the cameras not as a party leader whose grip on things is slipping, but rather almost like a statesman who had just survived an assassination attempt, enforcing the image exactly by playing the incident down and being as cool as a cucumber. Media, naturally, went ga-ga and splattered every possible detail about the incident and about security of our top politicians over two pages.

The problem of course is that there was no attempt at Borut Pahor’s life. While Zagajski’s destination was Ljubljana, his “target” was at least a hundred kilometres away in Rogla, which should tell anyone with half a gram of brain that Zagajski had no idea what he was doing. Even calling this a terrorist attempt is stretching it a bit, as it is obvious than rather than media and political attention, Zagajski needs professional help. But media on both sides of the border were quick to pick up on his statement that he was doing this because Slovenia blocks Croatian EU entry and smartly concluded that apparently sour relations between the two countries are starting to take their toll, this time in the form of mental cases trying to kill top politicians.

Which is of course a load of bollocks. Zagajski’s actions are political only insofar as media and politicians put them into a political context. Take that out of the equation, and you’re left with a nutter holding a bomb on a border crossing. I mean, the cops there did one hell of a job, preventing what might have become a real bloodbath and for once our new Fortress Europe and its Schengen system did what they’re suppose to.

But media hyperventilation over Slovenia-Croatia border dispute blows every single thing way out of proportion and gives it connotation it does not necessarily have and is in effect adding to the problem rather than clearing it up.

On Saturday pengovsky already hinted at the the curious incident which happened last Thursday during the weekly session of Borut Pahor’s government. Namely, the session was broadcasted (audio only) live over the internet, apparently inadvertently. At least that is what they say it happened.

Government in session. Live if necesary. (source)

The stream (Slovene only) was live for about 37 minutes and most of it was promptly recorded and posted on numerous Slovenian sites and for a moment it seemed as if all hell broke loose. Web portals competed in slapping the fattest title possible on their index page and reactions ranged from chuckles to sheer outrage.

And yet, the recording, whose primary protagonists were minister for public affairs Irma Pavlinič Krebs, interior minister Katarina Kresal, defence minister Ljubica Jelušič, justice minister Aleš Zalar and PM Borut Pahor, showed nothing more than that the goverment was acting according to its job description: debating and implementing policies. In this case a very touchy policy of cuts in employment in the civil service.

Minister Krebs was exasperated by the fact that the government missed every deadline and every target to cut employment in civil service by two percent. Truth be told, every government to date had that same goal and every single one of them spectacularly failed to meet it, endind its term with more people employed than it started with. But Krebs was adamant that something had to be done and it had to be done now, because at the moment this particular policy isn’t worth the paper it is written on. And where better to start than with the police and the army. They also fall into the category of “civil servants”, thanks to brilliantly misguided civil service wages reform executed by Krebs’ predecessor, Gregor Virant.

Naturally ministers Kresal and Jelušič went apeshit and a lengthy debate ensewed, primarily between Irma and Katarina, which was finally put to an end by PM Pahor. But – contrary to media reports this was not a cat-fight, nor was there a bitter argument or anything like that. It was simply a matter of bringing together different points of view. Granted, has this government truly functioned as a team, the differences and details would have been ironed out before hand. But as things stand, the government debated it and – as it happens – did not reach a decision yet. And did so in the most civil and respectful ways possible. The debate wasn’t even properly heated. Every media in-house coordination has more punch to it that this supposedly scandalous broadcast. In the end everybody looked good. Irma for trying desperately to cut down the number of civil servants, Katarina and Ljubica for sticking out fot their men, Aleš because he’d rather resign than see more people go, and – last but not least – Borut, who managed to bring it to the end despite everything.

So, maybe the whole thing was not really an accident but a carefully staged PR event, aimed at showing the government being serious about its job… Or it could have been something completely different.

As most of you know, pengovsky has, time and again warned against rise on neo-Nazism and its various offshots in Slovenia. Be it government pogrom against a Roma family, nationalistic marches on the border aimed at creating border incidents, nationalistic anti-Croatian rallies with a clear superiority agenda, boneheads trying to intimidate a round-table event on intolerance or a (called but cancelled) fascist rally in downtown Ljubljana, modus operandi which is usually associated with shitheads who think that Der Führer had a couple of nifty ideas, is becoming increasingly mainstream, while those same shitheads are becoming ever more self-confident.

Nationalists marching on the afternoon of June 25th and Mitja Blažič after the attack a couple of hours later (sources: Mladina.si and Narobe.si respectively)

The latest incident happened some ten days ago, and while it is not exactly news anymore, it deserves to be written about. Prior to Gay Pride Parade, which was held in Ljubljana on 27 June, a gay-and-lesbian literature night was organised in a bar in Prule, a nice, cozy and slightly bohemian area of Ljubljana. At about 2100 hrs on Thursday 25 June, a group of at least eight hooded and masked people stormed the place, armed with sticks, stones and torches. As he was just in front of the entrance at the time, journalist and gay activist Mitja Blažič took the brunt of the attack, being beaten and repeatedly kicked in the head. Afterwards the attackers tried to set the bar ablaze, causing Blažič some mild burns and – having failed to start a fire – threw stones into the bar’s windows.

The fact that the attack took place on June 25th, Slovenian Independence day makes it all the more appalling.

But then again… In hindsight this attack should not have been a surprise. Neo-Nazi sentiment is building in Slovenia. Slowly but surely. Most of its proponents probably don’t even recognise it as such, but rather think of themselves as patriots who want to protect the country and take it to a new level. The fact that they share that line of though with the second most famous Austrian (after Brüno) does not bother them.

And the fact that the fascist rally, which was cancelled on April 27th, did take place exactly on June 25th, only hours prior to the main celebration of the Day of Independence shows that neo-Nazi agenda is becoming dangerously wedded to the notion Slovenian statehood.

This year they marched by the Republic Square of their own accord. Unchecked, they will be leading the parade in a decade. By then it will be far too late to do anything about it. Luckily, it sometimes does help to have a left-wing government and an interior minister who is big on human rights. The police have proven that they can be remarkably efficient if needs be and have arrested three attackers within days. Apparently they are members of one of the football hooligan groups, where incidentally, where people with superiority issues seem to be especially thick on the ground.

It would be a most dangerous mistake to see this only as a series of unconnected incidents. What we are seeing here is at least a semi-concerted effort to restore neo-Nazi and other superiority ideology and make it a legitimate participant in a public debate. And they seem to be making headway as Hervardi one of these groups, even secured a weekly programme on Radio DUR, one of Ljubljana’s local radio stations.