Ljubljana - The newspaper Primorske Novice says in a Thursday's commentary that although the upcoming general election is often labelled as a watershed moment, the real concern lies not in the (pretty standard) debate topics, but in the recent deterioration of political culture.

The paper says that the results of the election are impossible to predict, but with the exception of the new face of Robert Golob, "established politicians will now address us under different brand names - more or less nothing new".

"In political terms, the April elections are unlikely to be a watershed, and the issues around which the public debates will revolve are all part of the iron-clad repertoire."

Primorske Novice adds that the elections could - or at least should - be a watershed on another criterion. "Over the last year or two, warnings about the rapid erosion of political culture in our country have intensified."

The paper adds that "itt seems that politicians on both sides no longer know how to behave and often resort to name-calling, rudeness, insinuations, lying to their interlocutor's face and twisting their words."

The commentary concludes by saying that the "April elections could therefore be an opportunity to give those who act in such harmful ways a cordial send-off into political retirement."