Slovenian Parliamentary Elections 2018: Janša Vs Janša

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Slovenian Parliamentary Elections 2018: Janša Vs Janša PRESS RELEASE Slovenian Parliamentary Elections 2018: Janša vs Janša In 2007, three Slovenian artists joined the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and then changed their names to that of the Prime Minister of Slovenia at the time, and president of the party, Janez Janša. Now, for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections in Slovenia, one of them is running in the politician’s home electoral district for the anticapitalist party Levica (The Left). Janša challenges Janša in his home district In 2007, three Slovenian artists joined the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and then changed their names to that of the Prime Minister of Slovenia at the time, and president of the party, Janez Janša. In the upcoming parliamentary elections, which will be held on 3 June 2018, Janez Janša will run, as per tradition, in Grosuplje, his hometown, where in 2014 he won over 35% of the vote, significantly above his party’s nationwide result (20.7%). But this time he will not be the only Janez Janša running in Grosuplje as the opposition party Levica (The Left) has decided to field one of the artists in the same district. ​ Capital has no interest either for society, or for art or for the individual The challenger candidate is a socially active and engaged individual, not only through his professional work as an artist, but through social activism as well. Janez Janša: “Running for parliament is a logical consequence of the view I have ​ towards society. I care about what is happening. I react to things. I want to change them. (...) Society must be organized in such a way that the state begins to serve its citizens, as opposed to serving capital. Capital has no interest either for society, or for art or for the individual.” → Watch the full statement HERE ← ​ ​ In Grosuplje, voters will choose between two Janšas and two different political paradigms Therefore in the largest Slovenian county the Grosuplje voters will be able to choose between two different Janšas on the ballot: one will be running for parliament with the conservative party SDS, while the other will appear on the progressive electoral list of The Left party. ​ ​ In this context a billboard for the political campaign of the progressive candidate has appeared in Grosuplje, in which three artists are depicted in the visual identity similar to that of the SDS party and accompanied by the slogan “Old name, new faces”. Janša’s message is thus clear, we need a radical change in politics, one that could not possibly be further from the politics advocated by SDS and the rest of the political establishment. → Watch the TV Report by Pop TV HERE ← ​ ​ The video included was created exclusively for the purpose of informing the public. For the original news report, see HERE. Usage rights held by POP TV. ​ ​ Who is the original Janša? Nova24TV, the Slovenian right-wing media outlet, which in gave voice to holocaust denial ​ sustainers in the recent past and often publishes anti-immigration and anti-Islamic articles, tried to discredit the artist in an article entitled “Why would you vote for a fake if you can get ​ the original?” to which the candidate of The Left party answered by claiming he is entitled to ​ the use of the name Janez Janša as he has obtained this name through a legal name change, while the right-wing politician, whose legal name is Ivan Janša, has never done that. The new candidate posted a photo of himself holding a valid ID card with the name Janez Janša and asked the leader of the SDS party if he is able to do the same. Notes to the Editor - Photos for free download, - video Janez Janša candidate for The Left (Pop TV 27.4.2018), ​ ​ - video statement by the candidate of The Left Janez Janša → AVAILABLE HERE ← ​ ​ Contact Dragan Nikčević, Chief Communications Officer, Levica [email protected] .
Recommended publications
  • Russia and Norway
    his is the third issue of the annual European Islamophobia Report (EIR) consisting of an overall evaluation of Islamophobia in Europe in the year 2017, as well as 33 country reports which include almost all EU member states and additional Tcountries such as Russia and Norway. This year’s EIR represents the work of 40 promi- EUROPEAN nent scholars and civil society activists from various European countries. The denial of the very existence of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism/anti-Muslim hate crime in Europe by many demonstrates the need for an appropriate effort and political ISLAMOPHOBIA will to tackle this normalized racism and its manifestations that are deeply entrenched in European societies, institutions, and states. This denial is not only the case for extremist groups on the political fringe of the soci- ety, but rather far-right discourses have moved to the center of political power. Conse- REPORT quently, it is not only right-wing extremist groups that rely on the means of Islamophobic propaganda and discourse - social democrats, liberals, leftists or conservatives are not immune to this form of racism. 2017 As a survey published by the FRA reveals 76% of Muslim respondents feel strongly at- tached to the country they live in, while 31% of those seeking work have been discrimi- nated against in the last five years. At the same time, only 12% of Muslims say they have reported cases of discrimination. Hence, we can say with certainty that the extent of ENES BAYRAKLI • FARID HAFEZ (Eds) discrimination Muslims face in Europe is much greater than the numbers revealed in any report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crime in Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • MFRR Report on Press Freedom in Slovenia
    0 MFRR REPORT: Press Freedom Deteriorating in Slovenia under Latest Janša Government MISSION REPORT MEDIA FREEDOM RAPID RESPONSE (MFRR) PRESS FREEDOM MISSION TO SLOVENIA (24 May - 2 June 2021) MFRR Press Freedom Mission to Slovenia 2021 I #MediaFreedomRR 1 __________________________________________________________________________ This report has been authored by the International Press Institute (IPI) with the support of: ▪ Article-19 ▪ European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) ▪ European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) ▪ Free Press Unlimited (FPU) ▪ Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) ▪ Reporters Without Borders ▪ European Broadcasting Union ▪ South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) ▪ Public Media Alliance __________________________________________________________________________ Published on June 30 by International Press Institute (IPI) Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria ǀ + 43 1 5129011 ǀ [email protected] ǀ ipi.media Photo: Shutterstock/Igor Kupljenik __________________________________________________________________________ MFRR Press Freedom Mission to Slovenia 2021 I #MediaFreedomRR 2 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Executive summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 Mission Report - Key Issues .........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Automatic Sentiment and Viewpoint Analysis of Slovenian News Corpus
    EMBEDDIA hackathon report: Automatic sentiment and viewpoint analysis of Slovenian news corpus on the topic of LGBTIQ+ Matej Martinc Nina Perger Andrazˇ Pelicon Jozefˇ Stefan Institute Faculty of Social Sciences Jozefˇ Stefan Institute Jamova 39, Ljubljana Kardeljeva plosˇcadˇ 5, Ljubljana Jamova 39, Ljubljana [email protected] [email protected] andraz.pelicon@@ijs.si Matej Ulcarˇ Andreja Vezovnik Senja Pollak Faculty of Computer Science Faculty of Social Sciences Jozefˇ Stefan Institute Vecnaˇ pot 113, Ljubljana Kardeljeva plosˇcadˇ 5, Ljubljana Jamova 39, Ljubljana [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract public objection (Kania, 2020) and church – state opposition (Paterson and Coffey-Glover, 2018). We conduct automatic sentiment and view- The related work also shows that the differences point analysis of the newly created Slovenian between ”liberal” and ”conservative” arguments news corpus containing articles related to the are not emphasised, mostly because both sides refer topic of LGBTIQ+ by employing the state-of- the-art news sentiment classifier and a system to each other’s arguments, if only to negate them; for semantic change detection. The focus is yet, political orientation can be identified through on the differences in reporting between quality the tone of the article (Zheng and Chan, 2020). news media with long tradition and news me- When it comes to methods employed for auto- dia with financial and political connections to matic analysis of the LGBTIQ+ topic, most re- SDS, a Slovene right-wing political party. The cent approaches rely on embeddings. Hamilton results suggest that political affiliation of the et al.(2016) employed embeddings to research media can affect the sentiment distribution of how words (among them also word gay) change articles and the framing of specific LGBTIQ+ specific topics, such as same-sex marriage.
    [Show full text]
  • Spreading Propaganda and Disinformation Using Public Funds the Case of Slovenia As a Challenge for EU Democracy
    E-PAPER Spreading propaganda and disinformation using public funds The case of Slovenia as a challenge for EU democracy BY DOMEN SAVIČ Published by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, July 2021 The author Domen Saviččis the director of the NGO Državljan D (“Citizen D”). In his role as the director of a non-governmental organization, he focuses on developing long-term projects related to digital rights, communication privacy and digital security, media regulation, and active citizen participation in the political sphere. For the last three years, he has been engaged in an anti-hate speech campaign, during which he has exposed the ways public money is funding propaganda and hate speech outlets in Slovenia. His previous experience includes working for the national public broadcaster and private media companies, after which he moved into the field of digital marketing, and finally established a digital rights NGO. He has a journalism degree from the Faculty of Social Studies in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Contents Executive summary 4 1. Introduction 5 2. State-funded hate 6 3. Self-regulatory and regulatory failures 7 4. Harmful consequences 9 5. Recommendations 10 6. Conclusion 12 References 13 Executive summary According to Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Europe fit for the Digital Age and Commissioner for Competition, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) serve one purpose: “to make sure that we, as users, have access to a wide choice of safe products and services online. And that businesses operating in Europe can freely and fairly compete online just as they do offline.
    [Show full text]
  • CONSPIRACY THEORIES VS EUROPEAN LIBERALS Edited by MIŁOSZ HODUN
    EDITED BY MIŁOSZ HODUN BEYOND FLAT EARTH CONSPIRACY THEORIES VS EUROPEAN LIBERALS BEYOND FLAT EARTH EDITED BY MIŁOSZ HODUN BEYOND FLAT EARTH CONSPIRACY THEORIES VS EUROPEAN LIBERALS People only believe what they already know, and this is the beauty of the Universal Form of Conspiracy. UMBERTO ECO INTRODUCTION by MILOSZ HODUN “The belief in the Homeric gods whose conspiracies explain the history of the Trojan War is gone. The gods are abandoned. But their place is filled by powerful men or groups – sinister pressure groups whose wickedness is responsible for all the evils we suffer from – such as the Learned Elders of Zion, or the monopolists, or the capitalists, or the imperialists” – Karl Popper. A few years ago, Europeans associated conspiracy theories with harmless lunacy. With American pop culture, which was fed stories about aliens from Roswell in New Mexico or Area 51 in Nevada, about the moon landing, which never took place or Elvis, who still lives. Or that Hitler lives... Each spectacular transportation disaster, an accident that happened to a politician or a celebrity, 8 gave rise to stories, which had followers overseas but reached Europe already modified by writers and directors. It was the same in the last few years when theories about flat Earth (entirely con- tradictory to the primary school curriculum) or humanoid reptiles taking control of the world’s most powerful grew in popularity. We watched documentaries about followers of such theories on streaming sites and treated them just like sequels of Borat, like mockumentary comedy too ridiculous to be true. However, conspiracy theories were popular in Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • The Situation of Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in Slovenia
    In Depth Analysis Requested by the LIBE committee for the DRFMG The situation of Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in Slovenia Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs Directorate-General for Internal Policies PE 690.410 - 25 March 2021 EN The situation of Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in Slovenia This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, for the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group. AUTHOR and ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSIBLE Ottavio MARZOCCHI with supporting research by Katarzyna KARPINSKA (trainee) EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Sybille PECSTEEN de BUYTSWERVE LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR Policy departments provide in-house and external expertise to support EP committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny over EU internal policies. To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe for updates, please write to: Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels Email: [email protected] Manuscript completed on 4 March 2021 and updated on 25 March 2021 © European Union, 2021 This document is available on the internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. The situation of Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in Slovenia CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION 4 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND INFORMATION, MEDIA FREEDOM AND PLURALISM (ART 11 CFR, ROL COM REPORT) 7 2.1.
    [Show full text]
  • JANEZ JANŠA, JANEZ JANŠA, JANEZ JANŠA Bio-Bibliography Teja Merhar
    JANEZ JANŠA, JANEZ JANŠA, JANEZ JANŠA Bio-Bibliography Teja Merhar JANEZ JANŠA (6 February 1964, Rijeka) director, choreographer, performer, theatre theorist, writer, professor A graduate in sociology from the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana (1983–1989), Janša went on to study theatre directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana (1989–91), and theatre theory at the Theatre Studies Department of the University of Antwerp (1991–92). His understanding of art as a socially responsible and ethical endeavour is reflected in his performances, among them We are all Marlene Dietrich FOR, Maska, Ljubljana; Iceland Dance Company, Reykjavίk (2005), Slovene National Theatre, Maska, Ljubljana (2007) and Who is Next?, Maska, Ljubljana; Inkonst, Malmö; Tanzquartier, Vienna (2011). He is also well-known for his reconstructions or re-stagings of performances such as Pupilija, papa Pupilo and the Pupilceks - reconstruction, Maska, Ljubljana; Ex Ponto Festival, Ljubljana (2006) and Monument G2, Maska, Ljubljana; Mestno gledališče ljubljansko (2009; with Dušan Jovanović). The author and co-author of interdisciplinary performances, conceptual and visual art projects such as Camillo – Memo 4.0: The Cabinet of Memories – A Tear Donor Session (1998), Life [In Progress] and The Wailing Walls, he has written extensively on the theory of contemporary performing arts (and also as editor of the performing arts journal Maska in 1999–2006). Since 1998 he has been the director of Maska, a Ljubljana-based non-profit organisation for publishing, production, education and research. He has been invited to numerous universities as a lecturer and mentor, and has served as Associate Professor in theatre and radio directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television of the University of Ljubljana since 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Republic of Slovenia
    Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 3 June 2018 ODIHR Election Assessment Mission Final Report Warsaw 12 September 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 1 II. INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................... 2 III. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................................. 3 IV. LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND ELECTORAL SYSTEM ............................................................... 4 A. LEGAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................ 4 B. ELECTORAL SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................... 4 V. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION .................................................................................................... 5 VI. VOTER REGISTRATION ................................................................................................................. 6 VII. CANDIDATE REGISTRATION ....................................................................................................... 7 VIII. ELECTION CAMPAIGN .................................................................................................................. 8 IX. CAMPAIGN FINANCE ..................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Pdf Eu Monitor
    April 2020 1 EU MONITOR Backsliding of democracy in Slovenia under right-wing populist Janez Janša Žiga Faktor § Amid the escalation of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe, Slovenia experienced a major political shift, as Janez Janša, leader of conservative SDS party, was appointed as a new Prime minister of Slovenia, filling the political vacuum created after a resignation of a former PM Marjan Šarec earlier this year. With Janša’s strong ties to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, his endorsement of right-wing populist rhetoric and ferocious verbal attacks on journalists and established media, many fear that Slovenia’s democratic principles are at stake, while the situation can be further exacerbated by the current state of coronavirus emergency in which the new government can entrench its power. MarchApril 2020 2018 2 It came as a surprise to the general public support in an early elections, for which he when then Prime minister Marjan Šarec advocated as the most democratic next step.6 announced his resignation on January 27th after only one year and four months in the office. On the contrary to Šarec’s plans, Slovenian According to his words, he decided to resign as president Borut Pahor called for a dialogue his center-left minority government was unable between the representatives of parliamentary to adopt much-needed reforms related to the parties to find a solution in which early elections country's long-term development strategy1 due would be avoided. As a result, Janez Janša, to a lack of political will from the opposition leader of the largest party in the parliament, parties.2 The resignation was a culmination of achieved what he failed to do after Šarec’s several political setbacks, lastly the announced victory in the 2018 elections, and reached an resignation of Andrej Bertoncelj, Minister of agreement over a creation of a new government Finance representing LMŠ3, who was unwilling to under his lead.
    [Show full text]
  • Slovenia External Relations Briefing: Slovenian-Hungarian Relations on Different Political Levels Helena Motoh
    ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 16, No. 4 (SI) March 2019 Slovenia external relations briefing: Slovenian-Hungarian relations on different political levels Helena Motoh 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 Slovenian-Hungarian relations on different political levels Summary Several recent events have brought the relationship between Slovenia and Hungary to the attention of media and the public. While the economic exchange between the two neighbouring countries is low in comparison with other Slovenian neighbours, this aspect seems to be improving through joint attempts such as the recent Slovenian-Hungarian B2B economic forum. Political relations, on the other hand, are complicated due to several reasons, one being an issue of a recent cover of a Slovenian journal featuring a caricature of Hungarian Prime Minister. In addition, Slovenian political sphere was greatly divided upon the vote in European People’s Party on the expulsion/suspension of Viktor Orban’s party Fidesz from this political group. Background: Neighbouring countries relations and economic relations Neighbouring countries have established diplomatic relations in 1992 and have had strong political contacts ever since. One of the factors which make good contacts even more necessary are the two ethnic minorities in the border regions of the two countries, mostly a consequence of shifting political borders in the 20th century. According to the last census in Slovenia, which registered ethnic identity, in 2002, 6243 people declared themselves as Hungarians and 7713 said their mother tongue was Hungarian.
    [Show full text]
  • Czech Republic, a New Party Called ANO Won the Elections
    his is the third issue of the annual European Islamophobia Report (EIR) consisting of an overall evaluation of Islamophobia in Europe in the year 2017, as well as 33 country reports which include almost all EU member states and additional Tcountries such as Russia and Norway. This year’s EIR represents the work of 40 promi- EUROPEAN nent scholars and civil society activists from various European countries. The denial of the very existence of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism/anti-Muslim hate crime in Europe by many demonstrates the need for an appropriate effort and political ISLAMOPHOBIA will to tackle this normalized racism and its manifestations that are deeply entrenched in European societies, institutions, and states. This denial is not only the case for extremist groups on the political fringe of the soci- ety, but rather far-right discourses have moved to the center of political power. Conse- REPORT quently, it is not only right-wing extremist groups that rely on the means of Islamophobic propaganda and discourse - social democrats, liberals, leftists or conservatives are not immune to this form of racism. 2017 As a survey published by the FRA reveals 76% of Muslim respondents feel strongly at- tached to the country they live in, while 31% of those seeking work have been discrimi- nated against in the last five years. At the same time, only 12% of Muslims say they have reported cases of discrimination. Hence, we can say with certainty that the extent of ENES BAYRAKLI • FARID HAFEZ (Eds) discrimination Muslims face in Europe is much greater than the numbers revealed in any report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crime in Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Illiberal Democracy? Democracy?
    Changing perspectives on human rights WillWill humanhuman rights rights survive survive illiberalilliberal democracy? democracy? Edited by Arne Muis & Lars van Troost Edited by Arne Muis & Lars van Troost Strategic Studies initiated by Amnesty International Netherlands Also in this series: Other publications by Strategic Studies: Doutje Lettinga and Lars van Troost (eds), Can Human Doutje Lettinga and Lars van Troots (eds), Shifting Power Rights Bring Social Justice? Twelve Essays, October 2015. and Human Rights Diplomacy: Russia, March 2017. www.amnesty.nl/canhumanrightsbringsocialjustice www.amnesty.nl/RisingPowerRussia Thijs van Lindert and Doutje Lettinga (eds), The Future of Doutje Lettinga and Lars van Troost (eds), Shifting Power Human Rights in an Urban World. Exploring Opportunities, and Human Rights Diplomacy: Germany, July 2016. Threats and Challenges, September 2014. www.amnesty.nl/RisingPowerGermany www.amnesty.nl/UrbanWorld Doutje Lettinga and Lars van Troost (eds), Shifting Power Doutje Lettinga and Lars van Troost (eds), Debating The and Human Rights Diplomacy: South Africa, March 2016. Endtimes of Human Rights. Institutions and Activism in a www.amnesty.nl/RisingPowersouthafrica Neo-Westphalian World, July 2014. www.amnesty.nl/endtimes Doutje Lettinga and Lars van Troost (eds), Shifting Power and Human Rights Diplomacy: India, April 2015. www.amnesty.nl/RisingPowerIndia Thijs van Lindert and Lars van Troost (eds), Shifting Power and Human Rights Diplomacy: Brazil, November 2014. www.amnesty.nl/RisingPowerBrazil Strategic Studies is an initiative of Amnesty International Netherlands. Since 2013 Strategic Studies has been mapping out national and international social, political and legal developments which can affect the future of human rights and the work of Amnesty International in particular.
    [Show full text]