STA, 28 June 2021 - Melania Trump, former US First Lady, has not made it to the latest list of 100 most influential Slovenians even though she topped it last year. She has been unseated by Prime Minister Janez Janša, who unlike her appreciates power, says the weekly Reporter. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin is in second place, followed by President Borut Pahor.
Reporter's latest commentary notes that Janša knows what it means to be "powerless or at least far away from levers of power" and he "will not repeat mistakes by his inexperienced predecessor Marjan Šarec", meaning he will not give up the prime minister post by taking any risks.
Soon after he took over as prime minister, Janša demonstrated that "there is likely no one in the country who can exert their influence" like him. Just for the sake of comparison, Šarec did not top the list when he was prime minister and currently he is not even the most influential opposition leader on the list.
Čeferin is meanwhile "the only person whom Janša sees as a threat, and he is not even a politician". "If he decided to enter Slovenian politics before the next election, he would most probably form the next Slovenian government."
Coming in third, Pahor remains quite influential not due to his moderate stances, but because of his senior post and political experience.
Speaker Igor Zorčič also stands out, having significantly increased his influence as a result of his defection from the coalition SMC and successful efforts to withstand attempts by the coalition to unseat him.
More than a year of the Janša government and pandemic has reduced influence of some "backstage decision makers", whereas a larger number of doctors has made it to the list in an expected turn of events, says the commentary headlined Goodbye, Melania.
The full list can be seen in the magazine, now available on newsstands
