Janković Win Sets Stage for Early Election
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A triumphant Janković insisted after the congress ended in the small hours of Saturday that Bratušek has been doing a good job running the government and should stay on even with him as party leader, warning her against making any rushed decisions.
"I would like us to leave this room more united than we came," he said, adding that the weekend was "a chance for reflection" and calling on Bratušek "not to take any decisions".
But Bratušek left the congress showing no sign of reneging on her promise, uttered on several occasions in recent weeks, to step down as prime minister if she cannot secure the support of members of her own party.
She was brief in her concession speech, saying she wished Janković "will be able to achieve everything you said here today".
Even if Bratušek decides to stay on, it is by no means certain that the government will survive. All three coalition partners have made it clear that they no longer saw themselves in such a government.
After all, the coalition was formed early in 2013 on condition that Janković step down as party leader due to a series of corruption accusations.
"This coalition has stopped existing...The PS has obviously decided to take it down," Social Democrat (SD) president Igor Lukšič said today.
"The election of Zoran Janković is ending the term of this government," Karl Erjavec, the president of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), told the STA.
Indeed, Janković's win generated a rare cross-partisan consensus, as the opposition parties chimed in with calls for an early election as well.
"There are no dilemmas. There is but one productive way out of this political crisis: change of electoral system (majoritarian or combined) and election," Janez Janša, the leader of the Democrats (SDS) wrote on his personal Twitter profile.
"If the coalition partners and the prime minister herself keep their word, the government will collapse and we will have early elections." New Slovenia (NSi) president Ljudmila Novak said.
Everyone is now waiting for Bratušek to make her move, which could take a few days. The office of President Borut Pahor said the pair would meet on Tuesday, for what will probably be a meeting that will decide the fate of the government.
While an early election would provide clarity, there are fears that much needed economic reforms, including privatisation, could stall.
Several top associations of businesses, including the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) and the Chamber of Trade Crafts and Small Business (OZS), warned against a reform gridlock.
"We think practically everything in the country will stand still for at least a few months," GZS president Samo Hribar Milič said.
"The economy cannot afford to wait months for a new economy minister...The interest of the country needs to take precedence over the interests of politicians, said OZS vice-president Branko Meh.
Whatever happens in the next few days, there seems to be broad consensus that the PS is likely to split considering that the majority of MPs are on Bratušek's side even as the rank-and-file voted for Janković.
Dragan Bosnič, a PS deputy from Maribor, said after the congress that he was thinking of becoming an independent MP.
Robert Golob, PS vice-president, who yesterday proposed a compromise solution of naming Janković an honorary party president, meanwhile said that the vote was "a defeat for the entire party".
Political analyst Igor Pribac, a professor at the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, believes Janković will struggle to secure unity in the party and the deputy group.
If the political crisis leads to an early election, it will be the second time since 2011 that Slovenians will vote in an early election.
2014 could thus turn out to be a serious polling year, as EU elections are scheduled for 25 May, a referendum on archives on 8 June and the local election in autumn.