Robert Golob | SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Big Bird Bruised By Bobnar Bombshell

The spat with Tatjana Bobnar should have been a nothingburger. Instead, it is turning into a carnival of fuckupery for Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob. Following a string of tit-for-tats over the course of the last week, the interior minister tendered her resignation, which the PM promptly accepted. She will officially step down tomorrow.

Screenshot of the last few paragraphs of the report Tatjana Bobnar made to PM Golob, where she announced her intention to resign — The business end of Tatjana Bobnar’s report and resignation.

Things happened after pengovsky’s last blogpost that made Bobnar’s exit inevitable. She claimed she was being sidelined for pushing back against political inference into police autonomy. Golob pushed back on that and wanted her written report on those claims. And nothing good ever came out of political partners communicating by ways of written reports.

All Politics Is Local (Elections)

On Sunday, the good people of Muddy Hollows will again head to the polls. This time around, they will be choosing their mayors and municipal representatives in local elections. Given that local self-administration in this country is a hot mess, there is often no rhyme nor reason for things being what they are.

Exploded map of 212 municipalities in Slovenia where local elections will be held this Sunday. — *The 212 municipalities of Muddy Hollows (source)*

Slovenia has 212 municipalities, ~~twelve~~ thirteen of which have city status (thanks, Krško!). This means several thousand people will run for some elected office on Sunday. It will be a fucking mess. On the other hand, this is precisely the reason why everyone will claim victory of one sort or another.

Robert Golob Shoots Himself In The Same Foot Twice

When pengovsky went on summer vacay, the presidential race looked like a no-brainer. Sure, a week is a long time in politics. But with Nataša Pirc Musar, Anže Logar and Marta Kos declaring early, things seemed pretty much decided. The only question was whether Logar would lose to Kos or to Pirc Musar in the second round. This scenario went to hell in a hand-basket when Marta Kos bailed out of the race late last month, leaving Robert Golob with a bit of a problem.

Marta Kos, Robert Golob and Milan Brglez. — *Kos, Golob and Brglez. Or, in aviary terms, blackbird, pigeon and nuthatch.*

Then things got really interesting really fast. First, the NSi launched their own candidate. This all but denied Anže Logar the chance to unify the right-wing vote in the first round. And then Social Democrats – after an intensive internal monolgoue – fielded Milan Brglez MEP as their man on the ballot. Finally, Robert Golob made a string of strategic fuck-ups and ended up looking as if he only entered national politics last year. Oh, wait…

2022 Presidential Campaign Season Is Now Officially Open

Presidential campaign season is finally on in Muddy Hollows. And it looks like it is going to be fucking awesome. Not necessarily in the constructive sense of the word. Be that as it may, there was movement on the presidential front just before the summer break.

Photo of Nina Krajnik and Nataša Pirc Musar in the first, albeit unofficial, debate of the 2022 presidential campaign. — *Presidential hopefuls Nina Krajnik and Nataša Pirc Musar sparred on N1. (source)*

Curiously – and most definitely awesome in the constructive sense of the word – four of the five candidates that have declared running for president thusfar are all women. OK, so there’s also this guy that goes by the name of SoulGreg, but he is not really important. What is important, is the fact that with the open 2022 presidential race, the field is about to get very crowded very fast.

The First Government of Robert Golob

Robert Golob finally put the ministers into his prime-ministership. The parliament voted on his cabinet yesterday and – to nobody’s surprise – approved the whole lot. Only it didn’t. Because this is not the cabinet Robert Golob wanted. Rather, it is the cabinet he can have at this moment.

Robert Golob and his (first) government, pictured immediately after the swearing-in ceremony. — *The initial setup of Golob government (source)*

This is a direct result of SDS moving to call a consultative referendum on the new Government Act. It stopped Golob’s redesign of the executive dead in its tracks and forced him to adhere to the existing layout. But the Big Bird will eventually get his way and a cabinet he really wants. So in a way, yesterday we saw the swearing-in of Robert Golob’s first government.

Muddy Hollows Seats A New Parliament

Slovenian parliament constitutes for a new term today, kicking off a power-transfer process at the end of which Janez Janša will be looking at the PM’s office from the outside in. When that milestone is reached, Robert Golob of Gibanje Svoboda party will become the tenth person in history with an Outlook footer that says “Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia”.

Inaugural session of the new Slovenian parliament. All 90 MPs were present as were many onlookers. President Pahor opened the new parliament. — *New parliament in session (photo: Matija Sušnik/National Assembly)*

Golob spent the past weeks busily getting all of his ducks in a row. He concluded a coalition agreement with Tanja Fajon of SD and Luka Mesec of Levica. In the process he probably saved the former’s ass and gave the latter a chance of a lifetime. Somewhat surprisingly, SAB and LMŠ leaders Alenka Bratušek and Marjan Šarec get to play along, too.

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.