Thousands of people in Ljubljana, Slovenia, mostly riding bicycles, protested for the fifth (or sixth?) straight Friday against the center-right government of Prime Minister Janez Janša, demonstrations that began at the height of the coronavirus outbreak in late March. Bikes were used in the early protests to align with restrictions on public gatherings and the idea stuck. It’s nice to see so many bikes on the street.
Corruption, ineptitude and a scandal stemming from botched procurement of PPE and ventilators are the main beefs, along with the Janša government’s attempts to extend its powers during the epidemic.
Janša, a close ally of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, doesn’t enjoy wide popularity but his right-wing SDS party consistently ranks highest in polls, this week polling at about 22%, nearly twice as high as the next party.
This Guardian piece by has a good summary of Janša’s political journey since emerging as a pro-democracy figure in the late 1980s:
He will also be able to act as an additional voice of support inside the EU for Orbán and the Polish government, who want to ensure the union does not lecture member states on democracy and rule of law. Slovenia will hold the rotating EU presidency next year.
The 61-year-old Janša has made a very similar political journey to Orbán, starting out three decades ago as a pro-democracy fighter and gradually shifting further right over the years, picking up anti-migration and climate sceptic rhetoric along the way. Janša’s political campaigns have used xenophobia, Islamophobia and hate speech, said Boris Vezjak, a professor at the University of Maribor in Slovenia.
Like Orbán, he has been accused of backing cronyism and corruption. In 2013 he was sentenced to two years in prison for bribery, but his conviction was annulled by the constitutional court because of a lack of direct evidence and he was released after six months in jail. He denied all accusations.
Janša, who has had two brief previous spells as prime minister, is backed by a television network funded by Hungarian figures close to Orbán, and the network’s former director Aleš Hojs has been made Janša’s new interior minister.
Like Donald Trump, another idol, Janša tweets his anger at critical media, journalists and political opponents daily. He’s a divisive figure but with a hand strengthened by the inability of the opposition to field any viable candidate.
Some links:
Added 29 July: Slovenia’s government targets public media in midst of pandemic, a story from the International Press Institute on a new bill that would massively cut funding to the national broadcaster TV Slovenia and threaten its independence.
