Janša bids farewell to Klakočar

The SDS parliamentary group has decided to cease cooperation with the president of the national assembly Urška Klakočar Zupančič, accusing her of abuse of position, violation of the rules of procedure, and disrespect for the constitution.

The largest opposition party explained their decision in a letter to the president, in which the parliamentary group highlights insults to MPs, spreading lies, incitement, and public promotion of intolerance, as well as spreading hate speech against the MPs of the Slovenian Democratic Party.

»What the rules of procedure of the national assembly prescribe for you, you have not been doing for some time. On the contrary. You trample on the provisions of the rules of procedure of the national assembly, you trample on the constitution, and you behave arrogantly, indecently, and hostilely towards individual opposition MPs. As the president of the national assembly, you are only first among equals, and your attitude towards MPs should not be discriminatory, insulting, and conditioned by which parliamentary group an individual MP belongs to,« wrote the SDS MPs.   

In their opinion, such abuse of the position of the president of the national assembly represents an unacceptable restriction on the work of MPs and limits the possibilities for debate and participation in the legislative process. Moreover, such behavior by the president casts a bad light on the entire national assembly.

»For these reasons, SDS MPs will not participate in the sessions of the college of the president of the national assembly as long as Urška Klakočar Zupančič continues with the aforementioned behavior, as SDS MPs do not want to contribute to the legitimacy of the abuse of position and numerous violations of procedures and the rules of procedure of the national assembly. If Urška Klakočar Zupančič does not stop the aforementioned behavior, the SDS parliamentary group will propose her dismissal,« the party announced.

NSi also responded

»With Urška Klakočar Zupančič's presidency, the leadership of the National Assembly has reached the lowest point in the history of Slovenian parliamentarism. Violations of the rules of procedure and procedures, obstruction of opposition oversight of government work, and inappropriate behavior towards opposition MPs have become the norm. I have informed the European Parliament about the dramatic decline in democratic standards and systematic abuses of procedural rules. My letter has been assigned to the LIBE committee, and now the coordinators of the parliamentary groups will be informed about it,« responded the leader of the NSi parliamentary group Janez Cigler Kralj.

NSi supports efforts for the prompt replacement of Urška Klakočar Zupančič. »In our opinion, she has long been unsuitable for leading the national assembly,« he adds.

Due to criticism of her leadership, SDS and NSi also reported a suspicion of a criminal offense in September. The parties decided on this step because they believe they have exhausted all possibilities in the national assembly to establish a normal discussion and assess that the national assembly is literally hijacked.

»In our previous work, we have repeatedly pointed out certain violations of the rules of procedure and other rules in the national assembly, which the president rejected with the justification that she, as a lawyer and former judge, knows best. Since we have exhausted all means in the national assembly, we decided on this option,« explained SDS MP Danijel Krivec at the time, adding that this instrument was also used against the former president of the national assembly Milan Brglez.

Why the report?

In mid-July, the opposition SDS and NSi submitted a request for the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry commission to investigate and assess the actual situation due to the threat to Slovenia's energy independence.

Then, SDS also requested the convening of an extraordinary session of the national assembly with this item on the agenda. The president of the national assembly, Klakočar Zupančič, rejected the latter. Her decision met with strong reactions from the opposition, among other things, accusing her of obstructing the work of the opposition and violating the rules of procedure of the national assembly and the constitution, which stipulates that the president of the national assembly must convene an extraordinary session if requested by at least a quarter of the MPs or the president of the republic.