Prime minister | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Janša 4.0: Grown-ups, Dependents And True Believers

Ten days ago Janez Janša was sworn in as the next prime minister. This made a lot of people in Muddy Hollows really angry and was widely considered to be a bad move. Especially among the dreamers, thinkers, speculative progressives… or, as right-wing pundits would have it, idiots.

Ten days ago Janez Janša was sworn in as the next prime minister. Now he is populating his fourth administration mostly with loyalists and people depending on him for political survival. — *Yup, this is us… (source)*

However, Glorious Leader updating his Twitter bio was only part of the task. A big part, to be sure, but this is one of those nothing-is-done-until-everything-is-done type of things. And since there is no Janša government without people for Janša to, well, govern, the grand finale started on Monday, with would-be ministers testifying in front of various parliamentary committees. Barring any mayor fuck-ups Slovenia will have Marshal Twito’s fourth government by tomorrow evening.

Slovenian Election To Be Held On 22 March, Says The Prez

Parliamentary election in Muddy Hollows is scheduled for 22 March this year. This is the gist of a decree president Nataša Pirc Musar signed earlier today. The date is not a surprise as NPM said as much just before Christmas. But it does mean that as of today the game is officially afoot.

President Nataša Pirc Musar set 22 March this year as election day for electing a new Slovenian parliament. — *President Pirc Musar signing the election decree (photo: Bor Slana/STA)*

Both readers of course know that the game has actually been afoot at least since October. The only real casualty here is pengovsky’s slightly tongue-in-cheek projection of 8 March as election date. But for that to happen, a lot of things would have to fall in place. Including a pliant president. And we know how things are in that department.

President Zoran Janković?

President of Serbia, that is. According to reporting by N1, Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković was this close to accepting the post of prime minister of Serbia. Apparently, he backed out at the last minute. This was later confirmed by Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić himself.

Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković and president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić in Novi Sad, in 2019. — *President and mayor, schmoozing back in 2019 (source)*

Following this bombshell, rumours started swirling that Janković remains in the mix for a high-level position in Serbian administration, possibly even as successor to Aca Vučić, when his presidential term expires in 2027. Talk about an exit strategy…

A Hope And A Prayer

It may not seem like it but it has been nearly eight years and four governments since Muddy Hollows last had to deal with a no-confidence vote. And before 2013, the only other time a no-confidence vote was mounted was in 1992. In short, a no-confidence vote is pretty fucking rare in this neck of the woods. Doubly so when the effort is led by Karl Erjavec, something pengovsky still can’t completely get his head around.

Be that as it may, today Komeback Karl, supported by LMŠ, SD, SAB and Levica parliamentary groups, filed the fifth no-confidence motion in the history of democratic Slovenia. Wait. Fifth? Pengovsky, you dumbass, you said it only happened in 1992 and 2013!? Well, allow me to elucidate with references to specifics…

Strange Bedfellows

Politics, as they say, makes for strange bedfellows. Doubly so in Muddy Hollows, where 2020 has, among other disasters, served the country with the notion of Karl Erjavec as a serious contender for the PM post. It’s not that Erjavec doesn’t have qualifications for the job, at least on paper. It’s that it wasn’t that long ago that people were willing to drown him in his own spit for what they correctly perceived as his self-centered, arrogant and destructive politicking at the expense of everyone else.

*DeSUS is *this* close to bailing on the Glorious Leader*

And now that DeSUS leadership has voted to quit the government of Janez Janša, Komeback Karl is being hailed as the last, best hope for Muddy Hollows to finally turn the corner in the fucking mess that is the second wave of Covid-19 epidemic coupled with an increasingly illiberal government. This, of course, speaks volumes of the sad state this country has found itself in since the Glorious Leader announced victory in mid-May.

Karl the Komeback Kid

With the return of Karl Erjavec to the helm of DeSUS this past weekend, things are shaping up for some serious end-of-the-year fireworks in Muddy Hollows.

Karl Erjavec featured in a meme. — *Erjavec may have qualities but looking good in a mask is not one of them (source)*

The fact that Komeback Karl made, well, a comeback, may seem a beautifully executed political long-play. In reality, it is anything but. Then again, Erjavec will be trying to milk the situation for all it might be worth. Including making a play for the post of the prime minister.

Janez Janša 3 (With A Vengeance)

President Borut Pahor officially nominated SDS leader Janez Janša as PM candidate yesterday, after the latter secured the support of NSi, DeSUS and vast majority of SMC, thus claiming a majority in the 90-seat parliament. Pengovsky fully expected the efforts to form an alternative coalition to fail with the clock running out on them, but not for the want of trying. It was just that the path to forming a stable coalition had been so narrow both mathematically and politically, that it just didn’t seem worth it.

However, it turned out that there was enough incentive on all sides to turn enough blind eyes to just about every paradox plaguing this particular political gangbang that a deal was struck just as the first (and crucial) constitutional deadline was about to expire, following the surprise resignation of PM Marjan Šarec.