"Politics has not shown that it could be an authority. Some politicians can no longer behave appropriately for their positions - and authority is when you know what is appropriate and what is not," is convinced Marjan Šarec. Borut Pahor, on the other hand, believes that the problem in politics is that of honesty. "We can thus interpret a whole series of successes, which were unexpected, as the deep rift between politics and people was bridged by new patterns of behavior."

"Politics will earn public confidence when it is effective"
Šarec explained that we need to have a clear and in-depth discussion on the changes in all areas of society, and to change the political system, since we currently do not elect people, but parties. "Politics will earn public confidence when it is effective," suggested Šarec. Pahor added that a deep rift has formed recently between public confidence and politics. In his opinion, it is a competition between good and evil, with evil currently in the lead. "I do not find it difficult to make a wrong decisions if I know some good will come out of it. We need to move beyond the usual framework and change our practices in politics to once again earn public confidence," added Pahor.

"I managed to survive 25 years of change because I helped create them"
Iztok Čop asked Pahor and Šarec how difficult it is to say something that they know people want to hear, but which they do not believe in themselves. Šarec replied that debates are such as they are prepared by others, and that this year's campaign is unbearable, since reporters are interested in everything else but content. He expressed his wish for a different campaign, without shows and elements that do not belong in a political campaign. "Considering that I have not been in politics for 30 years, I am not very skilled in certain areas, but my heart and soul are in the right place," he added. Here, Pahor explained that it is clear that people in politics have to make compromises between their own positions and positions for the public. "Personally, I follow the principle that I make the compromise if it does not significantly affect my vision. I managed to survive 25 years of change because I helped create them," he said.

Žiga Vavpotič asked the candidates what they would do on taxing wages to make companies competitive and remain in Slovenia. Marjan Šarec said that we need to start at the beginning to get politics that will serve the economy. "The goal is to have as many companies as possible, which will operate and provide jobs, alleviating the pressure on the 'flagship' companies." The larger the economy, the lower the taxation; however, we have to increase our investments into people. And laws should be written by people from practice, not from theory," said Šarec. Pahor explained that he himself was always a proponent of the employer contribution cap, since it could help retain the human resources required for development and technological progress, i.e. the segment of production that represents an increase of value added. "If politics and public officials exclude ourselves from this system and let wages become balanced, unions will also relent," added Pahor. He also elaborated that we live in a situation where people are convinced that the system is not fair, that it favors one side while limiting the other, and that abuses of authority are not punished. In his opinion, a rational discussion is not yet possible. It will only be possible when economic growth stabilizes as sustained, creating confidence. At that time, a long-term beneficial discussion will be possible. "Slovenia is a European country with the lowest level of income inequality; neither the government or the employers, nor the unions have much maneuvering space here. We will have to find other ways," added Pahor.

Source: AmCham Slovenia