SLOVENIA: GOVERNMENT WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000722

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: GOVERNMENT WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

REF: A. LJUBLJANA 716


B. LJUBLJANA 713

C. LJUBLJANA 707

GOVERNMENT WINS, BUT DOESN'T GAIN SOUGHT-AFTER SUPPORT
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1. (U) On November 19, the Slovene National Assembly voted
in favor of the government in response to Prime Minister
Janez Jansa's demand for a vote of confidence. The
Parliament voted to support the current government by a
margin of 51 to 33 (all the coalition members of Parliament
plus the two representatives of minorities voted in
favor). Although Jansa had expected to win the vote, he
was dissatisfied because he had hoped to receive stronger
support from the opposition. The PM had tried to connect
the vote of confidence to Slovenia's EU Presidency, and
lost on that count.

PM DENOUNCES OPPOSITION'S LACK OF SUPPORT
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2. (U) Jansa's November 15 demand for a vote of confidence
came after independent candidate Danilo Tuerk won the
presidential election of November 11 and the government
lost a referendum vote on privatization of insurance
(reftel C). On November 19, the PM opened the session
(aired live on television) with a two-hour presentation of
his reasons for the confidence measure, including
criticizing the opposition for actively attempting to sully
Slovenia's reputation abroad. Citing similar language found
in both a September petition by journalists that charged
the government of undue pressures on the media and in
documents drafted by the opposition party Social Democrats,
Jansa accused the opposition of manipulating journalists in
an effort to undermine the government. He rejected charges
of the government trying to pressure the media and
presented a study that showed almost three times the number
of published anti-government articles in a three month
period than in a previous administration as proof that this
government did not influence the press. Opposition parties
did not address the PM's contentions.

OPPOSITION MAINTAINS SUPPORT FOR SLOVENIA DURING EU
PRESIDENCY
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3. (U) Jansa less successfully claimed the vote of
confidence was necessary to demonstrate all parties'
support for Slovenia's turn at the helm of the EU
Presidency. In the opposition's turn at presenting their
positions, however, they rejected this connection and voted
against the government. Opposition lawmaker and Zares
party member Matej Lahovnik said that Jansa's insistence
that the opposition should demonstrate its support for the
EU presidency by voting for confidence in the government
was unreasonable. "We are simply acting like an opposition
in a democratic society," explained Lahovnik during the
session's debate.


4. (U) Jansa stated that he interpreted the opposition's
vote against the government as nullifying the May 2007
agreement for cooperation during the EU Presidency. He
added that he would measure the opposition's willingness to
cooperate by acts, not signatures.

COMMENT
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5. (C) The vote of confidence for the government should put
an end to last week's sudden spell of uncertainty just
before Slovenia takes over the EU Presidency. Some
analysts viewed Jansa's two-hour presentation as a solid
justification of his actions, although others viewed his
gambit as an alarm not worth the risk in the run-up to the
EU Presidency. Post expects that despite this uproar and
the PM's analysis, most of the opposition will play a
constructive role during the EU Presidency. END COMMENT

COLEMAN