Janez Janša | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Apr`es Moi, Le Déluge

News broke this afternoon that Studio City, the iconic RTVSLO programme, long a thorn in the side of soon-to-be-ex PM Janez Janša and his cronies, is to have its host Marcel Štefančič, jr. axed and its format radically altered. This, obviously, was not entirely unexpected.

Marcel Štefančič, host of Studio City, circa 2013. — *Studio City and its host Marcel Štefančič, jr., circa 2013 (photo by yours truly)*

All the evidence pointed to something like this. Not in the least because the outgoing regime and its recently-installed peons at RTVSLO spent the last couple of months dismantling every single bit of programming that dared look at the government with a critical eye. Studio City was right at the top of that list. However, that it should be done on 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, is – not to be too direct – sadistic.

Robert Golob Wins Slovenian Election: The Fuck Just Happened?

OK, so the “just” in the title is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, seeing as it has been nearly 72 hours since Robert Golob taking Janez Janša to the cleaner’s became global news. But still, Marshall Twito being defeated at the ballot box by a political adversary he himself had created, for the second time, is a big fucking deal.

Gibanje Svoboda led by Robert Golob threw a party after the election results were in. — *Party at Gibanje Svoboda electoral HQ after the results came in (source)*

But, wait, did pengovsky really state that Golob took Janša to the cleaner’s? He did? Well… In fact, the Glorious Leader and (some of his) minions even slightly increased their MP count. It is just that Robert Golob and his newly-minted party Gibanje Svoboda (GS) won basically all the other marbles, ending up with 41 MPs in a 90-seat parliament. Reader, it was a blow-out.

Crunch Time in Slovenian Election

With parliamentary election in Muddy Hollows in T-minus-two-weeks, we are finally at crunch time. The stage of the campaign where things start to matter. This is not to say that things didn’t matter before. Until now, however, the parties and their leaders were busy with laying the groundwork, setting up a favourable narrative and testing messaging. They have two weeks left for everything to come together.

Crunch time beckons in Slovenian parliamentary election. Politico Europe's poll of polls indicates stable support accross the board. — *Politico Europe’s Poll of Polls for Slovenia (source)*

Public opinion polls will also become much more relevant in the next fortnight. Until now, the things to watch were mostly trends. As of now, however, numbers will become important, too. But most importantly, whatever room parties and their leaders had for various campaign mishaps is rapidly disappearing. From now on, every fuck-up could be fatal.

Election Nightmare in Muddy Hollows

Muddy Hollows is less than a month away from parliamentary election and rubber is finally hitting the road. Technically, the campaign only started on 24 March. But in many ways, what is done is done. For the most part, political parties will not be seeking organic growth over the next month. Rather, they will try to keep whatever voter base they’ve established until now.

A nightmare rendition of election campaign TV debates in Slovenia. — *TV debates, nightmares and Muddy Hollows (source, via dreamscopeapp)*

The parties will also hope the competition somehow fucks up royally, bleeds support and that they get to reap the benefits. Sometimes, this happens on its own, and sometimes it requires a bit of help. Which is probably why PM Janez Janša has avoided the first round of TV debates. He probably thinks he can waltz in during the final stretch of the campaign and throw everyone off balance.

Cosplay In Kyiv

There is no denying that the Trip of the Three PMs to Kyiv got a shitload of international attention and was billed as some sort of a diplomatic and geopolitical feat. For a fleeting moment, Janez Janša, Petr Fiala and Mateusz Morawiecki (together with his boss Jarosław Kaczyński) caught the attention of the world.

The front page of Luxemburger Wort for 16 March 2022. Pictured are Janša, Fila, Marowietzki and Kaczynski on their way to Kyiv. — *The front page of Luxemburger Wort for 16 March 2022*

Virtually every outlet out there, from the New York Times to Deutsche Welle to South China Morning Post ran the same basic story: thee PMs plus the real ruler of Poland met the Ukrainian with balls of steel, and said words. Incidentally, this is probably the first and the last time Marshal Twito made the front page of the Luxemburger Wort.

The Siege Of RTVSLO

It may, of course, be pure coincidence, but fact of the matter is that only days into Russian aggression against Ukraine, the government of Slovenian PM Janez Janša began a siege and ultimately an assault on RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO), the country’s public broadcaster.

The building of TV arm of RTV Slovenija (RTVSLO), the nation's public broadcaster. — *RTVSLO headquarters (source)*

Normally, putting the war in Ukraine and the shit Janša is getting away with side by side would be gratuitous at best. But it is not only that there is a temporal overlap between the two. The Glorious Leader is directly using RTVSLO coverage of war in Ukraine to instigate the latest and most brutal round of undermining and destruction of the public outlet.

Ukraine War Forces Slovenian Politics To Think Foreign Policy Thoughts

In all honesty, it is a bit self-serving to try and look at Russian war against Ukraine through the lens of Muddy Hollows and its political cesspool. But seeing as this is an utterly self-serving blog, pengovsky will go right ahead. PM Janša, on the other hand, will stay put, as the Russian aggression preempted his photo-op in Kyiv planned for today.

Flags if Ukraine in the government district in Ljubljana. — *Ukrainian flags in the government district in Ljubljana (source)*

This, incidentally, should make the Glorious Leader available for a court-date in a defamation case against him. But he’ll probably claim an emergency NatSec Council meeting or something like that. And for once, he may not be lying through his teeth to get out of a court date.