DeSUS and the Pensioners' Association (ZDUS) said the real estate tax bill, adopted by the government on Thursday, was thrown together in a hurry and would hit not only pensioners but also all other individuals with low income.

They stressed they would prefer a one-year crisis tax to the real estate tax that will burden the population for a longer time.

Although the government made a step towards those with lowest pensions, this includes only a couple of thousands of pensioners, while there are over half a million pensioners in Slovenia, DeSUS president Karl Erjavec said.

The bill in its current form leads all those with low income into poverty, Erjavec stressed, adding that he did not support the bill as this kind of approach to the crisis only led to conflict with the people.

He explained that the party's executive committee would have the final say on the party's position on the bill, adding that he was not undermining the coalition by opposing the bill in its current form but only wanted it to be debated more.

A strong reaction came from the fellow coalition SocDems and Citizens' List (DL) today, with SD head Igor Lukšič going as far as saying that "we are again prisoners of the ambitions of an individual who is willing to sell the country to improve his rating".

"Like in 2011 and 2012 the forces of Slovenia's destabilisation are again coming together in DeSUS. A too high price is already being paid today by all for their foolish behaviour," Lukšič said.

The DL meanwhile expects that PM Alenka Bratušek might even call a coalition meeting over the issue. DL deputy group leader Rihard Braniselj says that whatever decision DeSUS adopts, it will need to accept responsibility for it.

Braniselj hopes DeSUS is aware of the financial stakes related to the tax, noting that even if DeSUS backs the budget proposal, the budget will be empty without it.

If it insists in its opposition, DeSUS will have to find an alternative revenue source, but the DL is warning in advance that a crisis tax is unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry (KGZS) reiterated that the new tax would have a severe impact on farmers, stressing they would use all legal means to ensure a balance between taxes and rights of owners of agricultural land. According to their estimates, the state would rake in almost EUR 16m in taxes from owners of farm and forest land.

The Association of Municipalities (ZOS) and the Association of Social Institutes also protested against the bill today, stressing that it would introduce excessive burdens for them.

Pointing out that buildings housing public institutions should be exempt from the tax, ZOS said the government was stripping local authorities of their autonomous financing source as comparable taxes elsewhere usually go to local budgets not the state purse.

Social institutes meanwhile said the government was only piling the burden on the weakest citizens. Moreover, all the efforts of social institutes to rationalise their activities will be irrelevant when the bill increases their taxation by some EUR 4m, the association added.