SLS backs interpellation motion

On 22 March, the executive committee of the Slovene People’s Party (SLS) voted to support the interpellation motion against Interior Minister Rado Bohinc. The committee’s decision was based primarily on Bohinc’s decision to issue residency permits in February 2004 to Izbrisani victims on the basis of an April 2003 Constitutional Court ruling without waiting for legislation necessary to enact the ruling. SLS leader Janez Podobnik told STA that his party sees the move as being "without a legal basis."

The motion was filed on 27 February by the opposition Slovene Democrat Party (SDS) and New Slovenia. Both the ZLSD and Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) are opposed to the motion, and expected their coalition partner, the SLS, to follow suit. The SLS decision to back the motion may mean the end of the coalition, either by the SLS leaving the coalition or being expelled from it by the LDS and ZLSD. Podobnik insists that this will not happen, however, since his party maintains it did not violate the coalition agreement by backing the interpellation motion.

According to the constitution, a group of no less than ten members of parliament can initiate interpellation hearings against the government or an individual minister. The hearings are followed by a vote of confidence; if the government or minister fails the vote, they must be removed from office. A simple majority of 46 members of parliament would have to vote no-confidence in order for the action to pass.

Minister of Health Dušan Keber is also facing interpellation, but has yet to respond. The opposition is accusing Keber of eight violations which have destabilized the healthcare system in the country. The SLS has not yet taken a position on this issue.

Demonstrations mark end of year one in Iraq

The anniversary of the start of the United States-led war in Iraq was marked around the world with protests and demonstrations, including one in Ljubljana which bore the name "Your War, Our Victims.’

The Antiwar Coalition organized the 20 March demonstration in the capital, which included a march from the Moderna Galerija to the Spanish embassy and attracted around 200 people.

The protest was held to show solidarity with the victims of the recent terrorist attack in Madrid and with the Iraqis, but the Antiwar Coalition tied the demonstration to domestic events as well.

Organizers told the press that solidarity with the oppressed is constantly necessary, and that it is just as necessary to show solidarity with the Spaniards or Iraqis as that with the Roma or with the Izbrisani. The group called for a boycott on the Izbrisani referendum scheduled for 4 April.

A similar protest was also organized in Koper, by the Youth Forum of the United List of Social Democrats. This protest was also linked to domestic issues, as protestors spoke out against the use of the Port of Koper as a haven for warships with nuclear weapons. About 20 attended the Koper demonstration.

Liberals urge boycott of Izbrisani referendum

Anti-war protestors in Ljubljana were not the only ones this week to call for a boycott of the upcoming Izbrisani referendum – the Forum for the Left also spoke out against the referendum this week. On 23 March, the group of left-wing intellectuals launched a campaign to urge the public to boycott the referendum, believing that a vote is not an acceptable way to make decisions relating to human rights.

Forum for the Left representative Gorazd Kovačič told the press that "a democratic tool with undemocratic and illegal content does not lead to stronger democracy, but to a dictatorship of the majority."

Another member of the group, Franco Juri, said that while the group respects the idea of referenda, this particular referendum serves only to incite xenophobia. The Forum for the Left believes that referenda on human rights issues should be banned in the country.

A demonstration is planned for 4 April, the day of the referendum, in Ljubljana. The Forum for the Left will be joined by members of the youth group of the United List of Social Democrats. Smaller protests will be staged in Maribor and Koper.

Meanwhile, survey results published in the latest issue of Mag found that only about 40 percent of the public plans to vote in the referendum, with more than 20 percent undecided about their participation.

Of those who will participate, some 40 percent plan to vote against the government’s proposed technicalities act, with just over 17 percent planning to vote in favor of it. Some 41 percent remain undecided.

According to Mag, the total of those intending to vote against the act has declined by seven percent since February, while the number of those who are undecided rose by the same amount. The survey was conducted between 15 and 18 March by Studio Salamon, and had 631 respondents.

K-4 back on the scene

K-4, one of the most popular clubs in Ljubljana, is set to reopen on 1 April after being closed in protest throughout March. The move followed the city council’s Division for Economic Activities and Tourism imposing a closing hour of midnight on the club as of 1 March. The decision followed several other moves over the years by the city council to reign in the club.

It looks like most of the club’s problems will be solved by constructing a new entrance from Bavarski Dvor. The club has drawn up the plans, and they are currently being considered by the city council. The new entrance will provide additional gallery space.

The club is one of the most popular in Slovenia, and has been around for more than 14 years. K-4 has about 200,000 visitors each year. The club was established in 1989 and quickly became a center of the counter-culture movement in Slovenia.

Predmestje premiers

The film focuses on a group of middle-age men who wile away their evenings in a suburban bowling alley looking for meaning in their lives. When a young couple whose roots are from elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia moves to the suburb, the group of men are torn between curiosity and xenophobia. The film’s social and psychological drama is broken up with a bit of black humor, however.

Sarajevo’s Prešern Park to be renewed

Renovations to Sarajevo’s Prešeren Park soon to be underway are the first fruits of a protocol on partnership signed recently by representatives of the cities of Ljubljana and Sarajevo, together with a group of sponsors and members of the Consortium Artisticum Society of Ljubljana. Stanislav Koblar, wartime president of the Slovene Cankar Society in Sarajevo, initiated the renovation plans more than 10 years ago, but only now do circumstances allow the plans to move forward.

The park sits across from the National theatre in downtown Sarajevo, and has born the name of the Slovene national poet since 1993. After the war, much of the park was turned into a parking lot, since it was impossible to keep up the green space under wartime conditions.

The Consortium Artisticum Society was formed in 2002, with the primary aim of realizing the renovations to the park. Other benefactors of the park project are the cities of Ljubljana and Sarajevo, the Slovene Ministry of Culture, the Slovene government’s Office for Slovenes Outside of Slovenia and 18 prominent Slovene companies which have branches in Bosnia or which collaborate with Bosnian firms. The biggest donator among Slovene companies is the Slovene firm Mineral. More than 84 percent of the foreseen 110,000 Euro needed to execute the renovation have already been secured, according to a 23 March report in Delo.

And in other news…

• On 23 March, President Janez Drnovšek signed a decree which puts the official date of Slovenia’s elections to the European Parliament on Sunday, 13 June 2004. The decree also states that campaigning will officially begin on Thursday, 8 April. The country will elect seven members of the EP for the first time. Similar elections will take place in the other 24 Member States of the EU between 10 and 13 June.

• The Palace at the castle in Maribor will host an exhibit called "Civitas Marpurg 1254 – Mesto Maribor 2004" from 1 April through 31 December 2004. The exhibit will present the changing face of the Styrian capital since it was first mentioned in historical documents as a city, in the years 1254. Included in the exhibit are paintings, photographs, postcards and films.