Ljubljana - Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar faces the first ouster motion this term, filed by the opposition Democrats (SDS) on Tuesday. The party alleges misconduct in public office, misleading the public, and dereliction of duty as it blames the minister for an increase in illegal migration.

Presenting the ouster motion at a press conference, SDS MP Branko Grims said that the removal of the fence on the Slovenian border with Croatia was part of the reason for the move.

According to him, Bobnar has misled the public regarding several matters, including in considering refugees to be the same as migrants. He said the fence removal has led to security and political consequences.

By the end of August, the police had dealt with 13% more illegal border crossings than in the whole of last year, said Grims, adding that the number of expressions of intent to apply for international protection was expected to increase almost fourfold.

"Slovenia is becoming a destination country for illegal migrants," he said. Moreover, Bobnar's migrant integration policy is based on multiculturalism, which the SDS opposes.

She is also accused of failing to fulfil her duty to prepare an expert opinion before starting the removal and misleading the public on this matter.

The SDS have been claiming for weeks that Bobnar has been knowingly opening borders to illegal migrants and putting citizens at risk.

The minister has dismissed these accusations as political manipulation a month or so ago. The removal of the fence, which was erected in the wake of the 2015-2016 migration crisis, was supported by some of the mayors of Slovenian border municipalities. So far, only about four kilometres of the fence have been removed.

In addition to the fence removal, the SDS considers the grounds for the ouster motion to be police conduct in a recent scandal involving sexual abuse allegations against the manager of the Ljubljana Fotopub gallery.

The minister is again accused of misleading the public and dereliction of duty, this time in relation to "the gathering of information and the protection of evidence material relating to indications of rape and torture and other types of sexual abuse of minors and adults in connection with events related to the Fotopub group".

Grims is convinced that the police should have responded differently to the allegations made in the form of anonymous testimonies on social media.

The police have identified three suspects and eight victims under an investigation into the matter that was launched in August following the testimonies and media reports.

Another reason to attempt to oust Bobnar is an Interior Ministry document that, according to the SDS, has led to inequality before the law in the run-up to the October presidential election.

The document requested administrative units, certain institutions and diplomatic missions to publish in a prominent place an address where voters can send signatures of support for certain presidential candidates.

They first did this for candidate Nataša Pirc Musar, who had been first to ask for this, and upon request the same was repeated for some of the other candidates.

But the SDS believe that the ministry should have provided the addresses of all candidates, at the same time and at the beginning of the signature collection. Alternatively, it should have refrained from doing so in the first place, they said.

Meanwhile, amid the SDS's several referendum bids in motion, Grims noted he did not equate procedures for collecting signatures to initiate a referendum with procedures for submitting election bids.

Based on these pre-election developments, the SDS are also preparing an ouster motion against Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, since they believe the situation constitutes an abuse of the diplomatic communication system.

Moreover, there are speculations about an ouster motion against Defence Minister Marjan Šarec that may also be in the works. SDS leader Janez Janša raised the possibility of this last week, as he criticised the government's decision to pull out of the Boxer defence deal.

Responding to today's move, Bobnar said that she was in no way afraid of an ouster motion that accuses her of "solidarity and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms".

"If you work honestly and lawfully, you can face anyone in good conscience and defend your decisions at any time with reasoned arguments," she said as quoted by her ministry in a press release.

The minister is confident she will have no problems in standing against the ouster motion and presenting her efforts so far, which "seem to be causing anxiety among some, particularly because we are uncovering a series of irregularities and suspected criminal offences committed by those who were in charge before us."

The coalition parties believe the accusations levelled against Bobnar are vacuous and unfounded. They said that the minister was working hard to undo the damage caused in the department by the Janez Janša government. The senior coalition Freedom Movement meanwhile labelled Bobnar as one of the strongest links in the government.

MPs of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) have not signed the interpellation. Party leader Matej Tonin said his party would study the motion before commenting on it.