Opposition alerts EU to "erosion" of parliamentary democracy in Slovenia
One of Slovenia's two opposition parties has s addressed a letter to the European Parliament, arguing the ruling coalition are eroding Slovenia's parliamentary democracy by breaching rules of procedure to undermine the opposition's oversight role and protect the prime minister and his party.
In the letter, the Christian democratic party New Slovenia (NSi) are asking European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to send a fact-finding mission to Slovenia to help "ensure respect for fundamental civil and political rights and the basic values of democracy in the country".
Janez Cigler Kralj, the leader of the NSi deputy group at the National Assembly, argues the MPs of the largest coalition party, Freedom Movement, including National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič are preventing the opposition to perform oversight in order to pursue the narrow political interests of Prime Minister Robert Golob.
Presenting the letter to reporters on 24 September, he accused the Freedom Movement of attempting to "assassinate" democracy with the help of its coalition partners, suggesting alerting the European Parliament was the last resort after the party's warnings at home failed.
He says that Golob has been avoiding a hearing before a parliamentary inquiry into suspected political meddling in the police force for over a year, being assisted by senior Freedom MPs who violate the opposition's rights and the fundamental principles of parliamentary democracy.
Testifying before the inquiry in October last year, Tatjana Bobnar, the former interior minister, repeated that she had been subjected to political pressure from Golob, which led to her resignation in December 2022.
The NSi also accuses Klakočar Zupančič of violation of the rules of procedure when parliament voted on Slovenia's recognition of Palestine just before the EU elections.
The party also accuses the speaker of bypassing the rules of procedure when the opposition requested an inquiry into the energy sector, including Golob when he was still the boss of GEN-I, a major energy company.
The opposition filed for the inquiry after one established at the request of the upper chamber of parliament to probe GEN-I, Golob's company Star Solar and his party's financing has become blocked due to procedural wrangling between the largest coalition and the largest opposition parties.
The opposition also wanted a new inquiry because the existing one into the matter is being headed by an MP for the ruling party.
Klakočar Zupančič has been declining to call a session to launch the new inquiry on the grounds that the request is seriously flawed, also because of how vaguely the scope of the inquiry and its interest to the public are outlined.
The NSi and the Democrats (SDS), the larger opposition party, have filed a criminal complaint against Klakočar Zupančič over the matter, alleging abuse of office and misconduct in office. Dismissing those, Klakočar Zupančič indicated she might report the parties for false reporting of crime.