Gibanje Svoboda | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Poklukar Vote Results Make For A Shaky Coalition

Boštjan Poklukar will stay on as minister of the interior. At least for now. With NSi taking the lead, the opposition held his feet to the fire yesterday. But in the end the no-confidence vote fell well short of the mark as only 29 MPs voted for his dismissal.

Boštjan Poklukar, addressing the parliament and defending his record as interior minister. SD and Levica abstained, making sure the opposition didn't get a majority on the vote. — *Boštjan Poklukar defending his record (via RTVSLO)*

That said, coalition had its own skibidi moment when they only mustered 35 votes in Poklukar’s support. Meaning that even the GS came up five votes short when supporting their own minister, as SD and Levica said upfront they were going to sit this one out.

Alt-F4 For Emilija Stojmenova Duh

Originally, this post was to be about PM Robert Golob finally finding a new defence minister. And a new education minister, while he was at it. But while those two will eventually get a mention on this here blog, the story this week is about Emilija Stojmenova Duh, who resigned as minister of digital transformation on Thursday.

Emilija Stojmenova Duh in a Microsoft Windows frame, about to be closed. — *Emilija Stojmenova Duh getting her political window closed*

The embattled digital minister has been on the chopping block for some time, for reasons that were both within and without her purview. And while the Big Bird reiterated that he has the minister’s back, it didn’t take long for him to push her under the proverbial bus. Or, in this case, under a government limousine with flashing blue lights.

Notes On Slovenian Recognition of Palestine (Part 5)

In an inexplicable bout of na¨ivete, pengovsky really did expect Slovenian recognition of Palestine to actually happen this time around. Well, not so fast, said Janez Janša.

Slovenian recognition of Palestine is once again bogged down in parliamentary procedure. — *Recognition of Palestine is once again bogged down in parliamentary procedure*

The recognition will still likely happen, but probably not before the EU/referendums vote on Sunday. And oddly enough, there is a non-zero chance this somehow ends up helping Robert Golob.

Once More Unto The Referendum Breach, Dear Friends

Apologies for abusing The Bard, but the upcoming referendum votes do have a tinge of Shakespearean drama to it. Or maybe it is the Shakespearean length of this post. Who knows. To quote Hamlet, fuck it. Going to the polls for the third time in as many weeks, and for the fifth time in eight months, is not a regular occurrence in Muddy Hollows.

Shepherd boy with flute symbolises RTVSLO. The fate of the public broadcaster in Slovenia will be determined on a referendum on Sunday. — *Shepherd boy with flute, by Zdenko Kalin, symbolising RTVSLO since forever. But for how long? (source)*

And yet, this Sunday might prove to be just as crucial as the April parliamentary election was. For those of you living under a rock for the past few months, Slovenians are about vote in three different referendums on Sunday. There is a vote in the Government Act, on the law on elderly care, and the law on RTVSLO, the public broadcaster. A fucking cornucopia of direct democracy if there ever was one. But there is a catch. Because of course there is.

Local Elections Postmortem (Kind Of)

Local elections came and went yesterday. Mostly, that is. A run-off will be necessary in forty-seven municipalities across the country. Most notably in Maribor where incumbent Saša Arsenović will face the agens movens of the 2012/13 Winter of Discontent, former mayor Franc Kangler. Apparently, ten years is enough for the good people of Maribor to forget what a knuckle-dragging douchebag he is.

Master Yoda has a lesson for local elections.

Pengovsky wrote on Friday that the vote will be a fucking mess. And it was, although for reasons that are not immediately obvious. Of the 212 mayoral races, 137 returned incumbents. And that number may increase still, after the second round. However, there were several cans of whoop-ass that good people of Muddy Hollows opened on several high-profile(-ish) local honchos.