Slovenia Govt In Peril As No-confidence Motion Filed

Ljubljana, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jan, 2021 ) :Five Slovenian opposition parties on Friday filed a no-confidence motion against the centre-right government, accusing it of failing to combat coronavirus and of exploiting the health crisis to become more authoritarian.

The move brings to a head a backlash against conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa which may see some MPs in the current governing coalition vote to oust him.

The motion was supported by 42 out of 90 MPs and will be put to a formal vote before January 22.

"The main problem now is that this government has been exceptionally unsuccessful when it comes to the fight with the epidemic," Karl Erjavec, leader of the opposition DESUS party, said in a statement at the parliament building.

Erjavec is being proposed as an alternative candidate for prime minister by the centre-left opposition parties who have proposed the no-confidence motion.

"We have to stop this madness and put the country back in the right direction," he told public television on Thursday.

"The question in this case is whether to continue to support (Jansa's) brutal and populist politics... that will lead us into the 'Orbanisation' of Slovenia," Erjavec said, referring to Jansa's ally, nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Jansa's coalition government was formed last March by his centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and three others after the previous centre-left coalition collapsed.

Jansa has mimicked Orban's hardline rhetoric on migration while using his Twitter account to attack media outlets which have questioned his handling of the coronavirus crisis, accusing them of spreading lies and serving opposition interests.

Jansa's coalition relies on the support of 46 MPs in parliament but Slovenian media have been speculating that several MPs from a junior coalition partner, the Modern Centre Party (SMC), could also back the no-confidence motion during the secret vote.

If the no-confidence motion succeeds, Erjavec will be tasked with forming a new government that would have to be voted on by parliament within 15 days.

In an interview earlier this week, Jansa admitted the no-confidence vote could succeed but said internal disputes among the opposition meant that the swift formation of a new government was unlikely.

A successful no-confidence vote was "not very likely, but could happen," Jansa told the Radio Ognjisce station.

"I don't think that would mean they would form a new government but rather lead us to early elections," he added.

He accused the opposition of filing the motion at the peak of the coronavirus crisis and risking a possible snap election before the health situation stabilises.

Slovenia has been registering a high mortality rate from the coronavirus epidemic with over 3,100 deaths among the 5.4 million population.