Constitutional Court | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Top Court Clears Way For New RTVSLO Law. Kind Of.

The Constitutional Court on Friday lifted the stay of execution of the new RTVSLO legislation. Thus it put out the flaming bag of dogshit it created with the February decision. As a result, despite the court not yet ruling on the substance of the complaint, new RTVSLO management and oversight bodies can take over. They can then finally stop the political clown-car that has been running the public broadcaster into the ground for the last eighteen months.

The Boy with the flute, the RTVSLO symbol, superimposed on a Constitutional Court plaque, combined with a green traffic light. — *Constitutional Court green-lit new RTVSLO legislation (picture by Capt. Obvious)*

That said, the Court also ended up with quite an egg on it face. Mostly for reasons pengovsky pointed out back in February. The court desperately tried to avoid a political fallout. Yet it achieved exactly the opposite and cooked up a clusterfuck of epic proportions in the process. Among other things, it allowed dismantling of RTVSLO to continue unabated, thus failing its own “lesser or two evils” test. It also rendered itself inoperative on this issue. Which is why the top judicial body had to resort to some pretty messy lawyering to sort out this shit out. Kind of.

New RTVSLO Legislation Hits A Snag

With only a week until it was to fully come into effect, the constitutional court today stayed the execution of several articles of the new law on RTVSLO. This is the first semi-success the remains of the Janša regime scored on this front. And even so, it was as much by sheer dumb luck as it was by carefully laid out legal arguments.

Both readers will remember that voters in Muddy Hollows approved the new law in a November referendum. As a result, the SDS shills currently turning RTVSLO into an unwatchable shitshow, nearly ran out of options. The law was on the books and the clock was ticking for selection of the new board and management. So they tried an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type of a constitutional complaint. And lo-behold!, something actually stuck. But go easy on the champagne, this is all much more fucktangular than it looks.

Same-Sex Marriages And Adoptions To Become Reality In Slovenia

Just before the summer break Slovenian constitutional court released a landmark ruling on same-sex marriages and adoptions. Not to put too fine a point on it, the ruling wiped the floor with the obviously discriminatory definition of marriage as written in the Family Code. As of last Friday, same-sex couples can legally marry and adopt children, enjoying the same privileges and obligations as heterosexual couples.

Slovenian and LGBTQI+ flags, symbolising legialisation of same-sex marriages and adoptions in Slovenia. — *Muddy Hollows is catching up on LGBT rights*

Or, do they? Pengovsky will not give anything away by noting this was a landmark ruling. It settled things that needed settling a long time ago. Indeed, the very first attempt to legalise same-sex weddings was made way back in 2004. This was during the liberal government of Tone Rop, after a decade of workgoups, drafts and whathaveyou. Friday’s ruling aside, there is still no comprehensive legislative protection of these rights. So, what the fuck really happened?

Of Egos And Justices

On Monday, the Constitutional Court ruled that the infamous 2017 changes to the Aliens Act, which effectively allowed the government to wholesale deny asylum under certain conditions (say, a mass migration wave, to give an example at random), were unconstitutional and struck them down in an 8-1 decision. Normally, this would be quite a bombshell on its own. And yet, somehow, it wasn’t.

*Jaklič in a now-deleted tweet saying Janša is the greatest Slovenian in history (source*)

Both readers will remember that the topic was so controversial back then that it drove a big fucking wedge between PM Miro Cerar and Speaker Milan Brglez, both SMC top dogs at the time and that Cerar eventually threw Brglez out of the party. Still, the latter must be feeling smug these past few days.

Gold Rush

In a development that surprised a grand total of zero people, Marjan Šarec, mayor of Kamnik and erstwhile presidential candidate announced yesterday that he will take part in the parliamentary election. This comes on the heels of a host of new political parties announced or already formed and ready to enter the already-crowded arena. And with the vote six months out it is high time pengovsky takes a closer look at the lay of the land .

Slovenian ballot box (photo by yours truly)

Although reguraly decried by their more established and/or traditional cousins as attempts to con and defraud the good citizens of Muddy Hollows, new parties are by no means a purely Slovenian phenomenon. Case in point Czech Republic (or Czechia, as it now wants to be called in English) where a large majority of parliamentary parties have yet to celebrate their tenth birthday and one was established only two years ago. Or neighbouring Slovakia where two parliamentary parties were non-existent as little as three or four years ago. Or even France, where the right wing is currently billed as Les Republicains but used various acronyms throughout the decades as its (originally Gaullist) platform evolved. All this and we haven’t even mentioned Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique En Marche which was but a figment of imagination as little as eighteen months ago but has since opened a can of whoop-ass on the French political establishment.

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