Together with SDS Towards a Center-Right Government

The eighteenth congress of NSi began routinely, without grand entrances of the new old president of New Slovenia, accompanied by Coldplay's Viva La Vida and a prayer for the deceased. It has been clear for at least a good week that Matej Tonin has no competition for the presidency of the party this time. He will thus lead the party for the next two years, which will be focused on preparing for the next parliamentary elections, as unanimously stated by all present.

The vision of what this means, however, was not so unified. Tonin stated in an interview for Delo that he himself will lead the party into the next parliamentary elections – which he expects to be regular and not early – but his most likely candidates for successors, the head of MPs Janez Ciglar Kralj and the president of the council and MP Jernej Vrtovec, do not entirely agree on this. Both do not hide their political ambitions and hinted that this is still a matter of agreement, while in their congress speeches, they mainly strongly criticized the current government.

"Every year is a year of reforms, but what we are seeing are just empty promises from the prime minister. What we are seeing is a complete scam of the people," said Vrtovec, calling for early elections to establish a new government that can show it is capable of governing. As mentioned, the party does not seriously count on these.

But for now, the party has assured that they stand united behind Tonin and that his role as party president is entirely compatible with his new role as a European MP, or even an advantage, as it adds breadth and an additional European component to the party – this was evident in several European addresses and also in Tonin's.

Péter Magyar, a European MP and Orbán's most serious competitor, who addressed the congress, warned that the development of Slovenia and Hungary ran parallel two decades ago, but now, due to a corrupt government, it is the poorest member state.

"The differences between Janez Janša's party and the Christian Democrats are obvious; the latter have true Christian values and also advocate for liberal economic policies, which is closer to us. In Slovenia, you have tried everything – Janša has led the government several times, as have liberal parties, but you have not yet tried the Christian Democrats. It is also time for a new path in Slovenia," he commented on the Slovenian political situation, drawing parallels with the current harmfulness of governments in both parties.

That a change in Golob's government is necessary was – besides the attempt to position between the two poles – one of the key points in Tonin's speech. "Everyone wants to subordinate the Christian Democrats. Some would like us as a reserve coalition party, others as a humble satellite. I tell everyone, Christian Democrats are not for sale nor on call. We are a serious political force that knows exactly what it wants," Tonin stated, receiving loud applause.

He welcomed "new projects on the center-right," which he wants to connect in some kind of common bloc. If we can focus on the essentials, together with SDS, they can achieve a center-right government: "By uniting fragmented forces, we can achieve great synergistic effects. Never in the last twenty years have we had such an opportunity to realistically decide on the future Slovenian government."

We must stand up for Christian values, the NSi president further stated, adding that migrants must adapt to "our customs." Only when we strictly return all those who enter illegally to Europe will we, in his opinion, control migration.

The green transition, in his opinion, is "another victim of leftist activists and progressives," but it could be a success story if approached scientifically, not ideologically. The best guarantee for energy independence, in his opinion, will be the construction of the second block of the nuclear power plant, so he called for a referendum.

He wishes that our Balkan colleagues, together with Ukraine and Moldova, could become full members as soon as possible. According to him, there is currently no better development paradigm.

We must stand up for Christian values, said the NSi president. PHOTO: Dejan Javornik