Ljubljana - The past two years in the cultural sector under the previous culture minister have been the darkest since Slovenia's independence, argues the newspaper Delo in Monday's front-page commentary, saying that expert opinion was ignored and institutions undermined.

"Scars of devastation that ploughed through the cultural field as a combination of incompetence and retaliation will take a long time to heal," says the commentary Scars of Devastation Will Take a Long Time to Heal.

"The darkest period of Slovenian culture since independence" was marked by persistent opposition to experts' opinions.

"The founding acts were amended to relax conditions for appointments to leading positions in public cultural institutions, which would inevitably lead to new examples such as the disgrace that has descended upon the National Museum," the paper says in reference to the recent resignation of the museum's director that was prompted by a scandal over alleged fake paintings.

The paper also notes the worrying situation in the Slovenian film industry, which had been left without most of the funding for a year. "This was most likely a deliberate starvation that severely undermined or destroyed confidence of foreign investors."

The Culture Ministry, led by previous Minister Vasko Simoniti, also played a role in efforts to degrade the media and failed to protect artists.

On the positive side, the paper thinks that "the political tribe has finally realised the importance of the cultural sector".