nedelja, avgust 22, 2004

TOL: Pre-Election Bonanza

Election season is heating up, and on 19 August Transitions On Line published an excellent briefing on the issues written by Aleš Gaube of the daily Dnevnik called Slovenia: Pre-Election Bonanza. Like many other journalists, Gaube predicts that the LDS – which essentially has held power nonstop since independence in 1991 – is facing an uphill battle and likely will not emerge victorious in the 3 October parliamentary elections.

Among the evidence upon which such claims are based is the poor showing of the LDS in the 13 June European Parliament elections. Gaube cites an 8 August RTVS poll which showed the LDS receiving 11.4 percent of the vote if the election were to be held the following week. The SDS would have been in second with 10 percent, followed by the NSi at 6.5 and the ZLSD at 4.7.
However, Gaube also goes into depth on the strange behavior of the opposition parties, mainly the SDS and NSi. They have filed an interpellation motion against the entire government while they have no intention of calling for a vote of confidence, which is the normal follow-up to such a motion. They have also protested various appointments, such as that of Janez Potočnik to the post of European Commissioner. And they have also accused the largest cellular phone operator Mobitel of bugging its customers.

This article is required reading for anyone interested in following domestic politics in Slovenia.

posted by editor @ 2:59 dop.