Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04LJUBLJANA1069
2004-11-26 10:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ljubljana
Cable title:  

JANSA SENT THE LIST OF CABINET CANDIDATES

Tags:  PGOV PINR ECON SI 
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UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 001069 

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON SI
SUBJECT: JANSA SENT THE LIST OF CABINET CANDIDATES

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 001069

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON SI
SUBJECT: JANSA SENT THE LIST OF CABINET CANDIDATES


1. (U) SUMMARY: On Wednesday afternoon, November 24, after
the signing of a coalition agreement by all four presidents
of the coalition parties, Prime Minister Janez Jansa sent a
list of 16 proposed ministerial candidates to the National
Assembly for approval. The National Assembly has seven days
(until November 30) to approve the entire slate. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) The list of candidates with brief biographical
information is as follows:

-- Dr. Dimitrij Rupel (SDS),nominated for Minister of
Foreign Affairs, was foreign minister from 2000 -- 2004 (and
previously 1990-1993),Slovene Ambassador to US (years1997-
2000),and Mayor of Ljubljana (1995-1997). He was
dismissed as FoMin just before national elections in June of

2004. and He then left the Liberal Democratic Party to join
Slovene Democratic Party deputy group and run for
Parliament. He was also one of the initiators creators of
the Assembly for the Republic. (Note: during elections,
Rupel was listed as an "independent" on the SDS list.
However, in recent press, he has been identified as a member
of SDS, and Rupel has not made a point of disagreeing with
this characterization.)

-- Dr. Gregor Virant [not affiliated but close to Jansa's
SDS party] nominated as Minister for Public Administration,
a newly established ministry under Jansa's government.
Virant was a former State Secretary at the Ministry of
Interior in charge of Public Administration reform, and
creator of the Ministry of Public Administration. He was
also a member of Jansa's Expert Council.

-- Dr. Vasko Simoniti [SDS], nominated as Minister of
Culture, is a professor of History at the Philosophical
Philosophy Faculty at the University of Ljubljana. andHe
was head of the presidential election campaign in 2002 for
independent candidate Barbara Brezigar [supported by SDS and
NSi].

-- Mr. Andrej Vizjak [SDS], nominated as Minister of
Economy, is currently the mayor of Brezice and a member of
parliament. His main goals as minister will be reforming
government regulation of business, especially with respect
to administrative barriers and taxation.

-- Mr. Andrej Brucan [SDS], nominated as Minister of Health,
is vice-president of SDS and was the Minister of Health
during Bajuk's government (2000). Since 1979 he has headed

the Urgent Internal Medical Office of the Clinical Center in
Ljubljana.

-- Dr. Milan Zver, [SDS] nominated as Minister of Education,
is the President of the SDS Council and a professor of
Sociology at Maribor University. He supports the idea of
Bible study as an optional subject in primary school.

-- Mr. Dragutin Mate, [SDS] nominated as the Minister of
Interior proposed by SDS, Interior is employed in the
Ministry of Defense as Director of the Direction Directorate
for Defense. He became known to the public as a the
Slovene Defense Attach in Sarajevo [from 1996 to 1999]
where he was reportedly collecting information on Slovene
Ambassador Mirosic's private life. and thus He was
recalled early back from his posting earlier. HeMate was
also testifyiedng in front of the Parliamentaryian
Commission on pPost-independence wWeapons tTrade.

-- Ms. Marija Lukacic, nominated for Minister of
Agriculture, Forestry and Food and proposed by SDS (though
not a party member),was the former Director of the Fund of
Agricultural Land and Forests [1994 - 1999] where she was
not very successful. In 2000 she was nominated for the
Director of the Office for Denationalization and in 2001 she
returned to the Ministry of Agriculture to head the Office
for Natural Disasters.


-- Dr. Andrej Bajuk,[Nsi] nominated as Minister of Finance,
is the president of NSi and a former prime minister
[transitional government in 2000]. Bajuk worked for the
Interamerican Development Bank in various positions from
1977-2000. He strongly supports privatization in Slovenia,
especially of banks, however he has said indicated that the
banks should stay in Slovene hands.

-- Dr. Lovro Sturm, [Nsi] nominated as Minister of Justice,

is a professor of law at Ljubljana University. He is a
former Constitutional Court Judge and was Minister of
Education in 2000 during Bajuk's transitional government.
He is the author of the draft Law on Religious Communities
and Head of the Institute for the Law of Human Rights.

-- Mr. Janez Drobnic [NSi], nominated as Minister of Labor,
Family and Social Affairs, was the former head of the NSi
Deputy group in parliament. Before being elected MP in
2000, he was employed in the Ministry of Labor as an
advisor. He strongly opposed the LDS initiative to legalize
bio-medical help in insemination of single women and also
the Law on Decriminalization of Prostitution.

-- Dr. Jure Zupan [NSi], nominated as Minister of Higher
Education, Science and Technology, is a top Slovene
scientist, specializinged in chemistry and informatics. He
initiated the idea of splitting the ministry of Education
into two ministries.

-- Mr. Janez Podobnik [SLS], nominated for Minister of
Environment and Spatial Planning, is president of SLS and
former president of the National Assembly ([1996 - 2000)].
Recently, he was involved in the incident on the Slovene -
Croatian border where he was roughly arrested by the
Croatian police for refusing to show his identity card.

-- Mr. Janez Bozic [SLS], nominated as the Minister of
Transport, is currently the President of the Direction for
Highways of the Republic of Slovenia (DARS).

-- Mr. Karl Erjavec [DeSUS], nominated as Minister of
Defense, is currently a State Secretary at the Ministry of
Justice. He took his current position as a member of SLS in
2000, when Ivo Bizjak [SLS] became the minister.(Grega -
when/why did he switch parties?). In April 2004 when SLS
left the coalition, newly appointed MoJ Zdenka Cerar wanted
him to stay in the position and so he leaft the party.
After few months he joined DeSUS.

-- Ms. Darinka Mravljak [SLS], nominated as Minister without
portfolio in charge of Regional Development and Local Self-
government, is a former Head of the Parliamentarian
Commission for the Policy of Equal Opportunities.

--------------
CONFIRMATION
--------------


3. (U) The next steps in establishing the GOS is as
follows:are a few remaining steps before the government can
be confirmed. fFirst, the candidates will must have
hearings in front ofwith the respective parliamentary
committees within three to seven days after nomination.
NextThen, the presidents of the committees give their
opinions to the Prime Minister within 48 hours after the
hearing. He then has three days to replace any candidate if
he pleases. And finally, Ffollowing this timeline, the
government might be confirmed by the parliament in an urgent
session as early as Tuesday, November 30, but more likely,
it will be be confirmed most likely confirmed on Thursday,
December 2, 2004 during the regular parliamentary session.

--------------
CODE OF ETHICS
--------------


4. (U) When Jansa was elected for the PMPrime Minister in
the National Assembly, he stated he would demand thea Codex
of Ethics offor the Government of Slovenia to be signed by
each member of the government. It is also a part of the
coalition agreement. The Code of Ethics basically talks
aboutis based on ffundamental values of human life and
dignity, freedom, honesty, solidarity and patriotism. The
signatureSigning of the code will bind ministers morally and
ethically to perform their functions according to the laws
([not using professional information infor personal
benefitsgain, refusinging of gifts, refusing privileges
offered duesolely because of to their functionspositions,
avoiding the conflicts of interest etc.s.)]. Should abuse
of office come to light in a manner which would be damaging
to the reputation or work of the Government, individuals In
case of any of abuses of office that would harm the respect
of GoS or the work of government, all signatories are
obliged themselves to offer their resignations to the Prime
Minister.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


5. (U) COMMENT: It is very likely Slovenia will gethave
its new government by the end of next week [December 3].
The coalition holds 49 votes plus two representatives of
minorities that usually stick with the coalition. There are
maybe two potentially controversial candidates for the
ministers. The Ffirst one is proposed (and former) FoMin
Dimitrij Rupel who was dismissed from the ministerial
positionas Foreign Minister in June 2004 for his active
participatingon in the Assembly for the Republic, thatwhich
joinedaligned itself with politicalcenter- right parties
beforeprior to national elections. In that regard he
switched parties just before elections and thus got another
chance to be the minister.As reported previously, Rupel
quickly allied himself with Jansa and the SDS and has
secured himself his old job in the new government. His
former party [LDS] will definitelycertainly oppose him in
the Foreign Affairs Committee review and most likely the
rest of the opposition [ZLSD and SNS] won't support him
either will withhold support. ButHowever, the fact is
thatparliamentary committees only give advisory opinions on
each candidates, thatwhich the Prime Minister is not
obligatoryobliged to follow it.


6. The second controversial and probablyperhaps even more
problematic candidate facing confirmation is Dragutin Mate
for the Minister of Interior. He has been close to Jansa
since Jansa became the Minister of Defense in 1990. During
Mate's employment in the Ministry of Defense ([Defense
Intelligence Office, Personnel Office) and as the Defense
Attach in Sarajevo he gotwas involved in several affairs
that might be reopened during his hearing in the Committee
for the Defense hearing. In preparation for Mate's hearing,
Ssome LDS deputies alreadyhave demanded from the president
of the National Assembly to providethe reports of the
Commission ([fromin the previous composition of the
parliament)] that investigated the weapons tradeing during
the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so they can prepare for
the hearing.


7. The two mentionedRupel and Mate are likely the only two
candidates thatwho will face intense questioning would sweat
the most during their the hearings. At but at the end of
the day, however, the parliament votes on the teamentire
slate of ministers as a whole package. and iWith only 46
votes needed for confirmation of the team, Jansa's
coalition, which controls 49 votes, is expected to approve
the proposed cabinet.t is expected the coalition will
support it. They only need 46 votes and that has been
already assured. END COMMENT.

ROBERTSON


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