Slovenia: pre-election debates

Comrades from ex Socialist Republic of Slovenia, I'd like to ask you about your views on the current political debates among the candidates for parliamentary seats.
What do you find the most interesting? What should be addressed? Is there a party sincere among them? Who do you think will win?

What issues are at the forefront in these debates? I am quite unaware of what's going on.

What sort of neoliberal reforms do the right-wing parties want to pass? Are they limited by EU regulations? Are the right-wing parties socially conservative as well as economically conservative? How do they differ from the nationalist parties?

Sorry for the barrage of questions!

Moris wrote:

i'll just vote for zoko. either he gets in power, which would not be a bad thing, or the neoliberal janshists will. at least we know he is on the left side of political spectrum.

I think you said some months ago when we discussed previous elections that Lipa would be your choice then. As I heard, Sašo Peče switched sides and is a candidate for some other party now.
I also remember you being a rabid pro-government supporter this summer when we discussed the then-current referendums. How come you don't believe in Pahor any more?;)
Don't take this the wrong way, comrade, I'm teasing you a bit because I'm surprised to hear you're voting for Zoran Janković.

Moris wrote:

pahor is not exactly in power anymore is he? i still think his reforms would be positive for our well-being. i'll be voting for zoko because he has the most chances of winning and his reforms improved the quality of life in ljubljana. there's very little point in voting for smaller parties with so much at stake this year.

Are you saying it is better to vote for the one who's slated to win than for the one who you think is better suited but according to you doesn't have chances to win? I find such switching allegiance a bit problematic. And, are you saying you only supported Pahor while he was in charge (governing) and no more since he's not in charge anymore? That's even worse, i'm sorry to say so, comrade.

Moris wrote:

as for switching allegiances i was a government supporter before and had zoko decided not to run i would have voted for pahor indeed.

Would you agree that Jankovic's sons had nothing to do with illegal operations with regards to real-estate purchases of land which was supposed to be for agricultural purposes? And how about those companies from Cyprus?

Moris wrote:

if i could vote for more than one party i would vote for LZJ, SD and LDS. since i can only vote for one i will of course vote for the one i find closer to my beliefs and has better chances of winning.

Comrade, with such reasoning, I'm not sure any party would be able to exist unless in power. If everyone left a party once it would show they cannot win (switch allegiance), parties would change as often as one changes underwear I always thought that parties had a vision which would expand for the decades to come. A vision would be like a goal: achieve solidarity in society. For that long-term vision, operational goals have to be set in order to achieve that vision eventually, such as passing legislation to collect this-or-that tax, etc etc.

Moris wrote:

voting for a party which will not pass the threshold is basically giving your votes to the rightists.

Does the same argument hold for a right-winger who'd vote for NSi?

Moris wrote:

that's something for court to decide, not me. however considering how small and tightly knit slovenia is i wouldnt be surprised if nepotism was involved

So, nepotism is Ok as long as the figure is trying hard to convince voters that by voting him/her they will get better lives?

Moris wrote:

and since they cant prove anything against him they are going after his sons.

To my understanding, Pahor's family wasn't involved in any scandal or scheming. Ever. I mean, he wasn't even charged, let alone convicted of embezzlement or corruption (the Dimic affair had nothing to do with his family). For the same reason why you're supporting Jankovic despite the allegations Janša should be treated in the same manner - he's only been charged in the Patria affair, and according to your kind of reasoning, the right-wingers will claim exactly the same "he's innocent and it's all a scheme to discredit him".

What do you think of Virant?

Comrade, thank you for your views. I now better understand why the left is impotent.

Are there any communist parties in Slovenia? What are their policies and "ideological lines"?

Moris wrote:

then would you be so gracious and tell me what the left should do to not be 'impotent'?

I claim that today's left-wing political party leaders cannot set themselves as an example or role-model. Take any of the left-wing party leaders and you will see that people do not trust them due to affairs which discredited them in the eyes of the working class.

A few examples: Kresal and the travesty of justice in the bullmastif-affair, or renting the building for NPU ("Slovenian FBI") from a close family friend. Golobič and the Ultra affair, not to mention TEŠ6. Pahor and the Dimic affair, as well as his inability to surround himself with credible people (the Thaler corruption affair).

Janković cannot be regarded as a left wing candidate for many a reason: he declares himself for a non-partisan (left-right) politician; he only wants to speak of projects and achievements; he himself has more personal wealth than all the left-wing political party leaders and their members combined. Being supported by Milan Kučan or comrade Stanovnik does not make him a leftist.

However, there is one left-wing party which probably has no affairs - TRS. I don't know how you see them, but I feel they're a joke. Hanžek said the other day that the problem is not in public administration and poor efficiency in it, but in the real sector because company owners obviously don't know how to manage their companies and thus have to fire people. I think they're too marignal to even spend time discussing them is a waste of seconds, minutes.

Comrade, I think the highest probability is a relative victory of SDS, followed by Virant, and then Janković. I am not afraid of Janša and I'd cast my vote to either Virant or Janković, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go and vote in the first place.
What I believe Slovenia needs right now (and I'm probably in minority with this opinion) is a national consensus on what we want to achieve in the following 4 years. Basically, a national consesus on a "4-year plan":) This consensus cannot be achieved by having either hard-core rightists or leftists at the helm of the government. Instead, a project-goals oriented group should take over, be it Virant's (which would probably decrease queues in public health institutions and make courts more efficient) or Jankovic's (which would probably focus on economy and boost it with drawing foreign investors into the country).

WHat I wanted to say, comrade, is that with all of the above, the left is impotent because there is no clear vision on their part about how they will help the little man get out of this vicious circle of life in which we all are right now. What do you think?

Loz wrote:

Are there any communist parties in Slovenia? What are their policies and "ideological lines"?

Hi, Loz, long time no see! Have you managed to do whatever you had to do after you asked to be banned for a month or so?

There did exist a Slovenian Communist Party (http://www.communistpartyslovenia.si/) and I remember it was running in the elections some 15 years or so ago. They were a joke even back then, let alone nowadays. I haven't heard anything from them for since that period. As I see in this webpage, it is not maintained and the last information is from October 2010 saying that the wife of the president of SCP is running for mayor of a small town in local elections last year in Slovenia.

When you see pages like that and read what they write, it makes you wonder if you two truly share the same communist belief

Moris wrote:

the prospect of living under a semi-dictatorial rightist regime is not a pleasant one

Comrade, if this prophecy comes true, this video will be interesting again http://bit.ly/syvW1x.