minister | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Aleš Hojs in Hotel California

Despite resigning in writing and in no uncertain terms, Aleš Hojs continued as interior minister in the Janša government. This, in spite of the deadline set forth in the parliamentary rules and procedures which state that the PM is required to notify the parliament of the resignation within seven days of a minister’s resignation.

*Aleš Hojs writing that he resigns the post, effective immediately. And yet… (source)*

As it is the parliament that appoints the ministers, this requirement is not a mere formality. The notification of resignation is to start the constitutional clock on nominating and ultimately appointing a new minister. As of Wednesday, at 0000 hrs, no such notification was forthcoming, meaning Aleš Hojs still gets to be driven in a fancy car with a security detail.

Keeping The Eye On The Ball

Pengovsky was about to write up the fifth (and possibly last) installment of the Clearly, No-one Was Thinking series, when Angelika Mlinar was somewhat unexpectedly not green-lighted as minister for EU cohesion funds by the relevant parliamentary committees.

*Angelika Mlinar during her committee hearing (source: Matija Sušnik/Nat’l Assembly)*

The one thing that stood out as a sore thumb was the fact that it was not her credentials that were debated but rather her national loyalties. In fact, what we witnessed in the committee hearing on Tuesday was a mix of latent nationalism and sexism, with some internal party strife to boot.

Clearly, No-one Was Thinking (part 3, feat. Angelika Mlinar)

The Alenka Bratušek/Angelika Mlinar duo is making waves again. After their failed attempt to make the cut in the EU vote last May, the SAB leader nominated the former Austrian-Slovenian MEP for the position of minister without portfolio in charge of EU cohesion funds. Somewhat predictably, all hell broke loose.

*Angelika Mlinar, the SAB nominee for minister in charge of EU cohesion funds (source)*

There are various ways of looking at the move and not all of them paint a rosy picture of Bratušek and the SAB. But in what was either a shrewdly calculated risk or pure luck, the debate has largely centred on Mlinar’s eligibility for the position, once more showing that the one thing the political landscape in Muddy Hollows sorely lacks is any sort of open-mindedness and imagination and that is in fact bursting with autarchy, bigotry and jingoism.

Dropping Like Flies

Well, this is getting really old really fast. It seems that prime minister Marjan Šarec lost yet another minister today. The latest person to have bid adieu to the government was health minister Samo Fakin.

Samo Fakin follows Bandelli, Prešiček, Leben, and joins the ranks of ex-ministers

In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, health minister Fakin is stepping down due to – health reasons. Curiously, however, the official medical explanation given seems to be somewhat too pedestrian to merit a resignation.