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A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here
This summary is provided by the STA:
Robert Šumi appointed new head of anti-graft commission
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor appointed Robert Šumi, a lecturer at the police academy, the next head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. He will start his six-year term on 1 April. The chair of the Police Academy's centre for research and social skills, Šumi is an associate professor at the University of Maribor and has a PhD on ethics in for-profit and non-profit organisations. The president's office said Šumi "fulfils the high professional standards to successfully execute the duties," and Pahor also told Šumi in a video posted on Twitter he wished "that by successfully preventing corruption you restore trust in integrity."
No decision as to election or coalition after first round of talks
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor concluded the first round of talks with parliamentary parties by meeting the heads of the deputy groups of the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), National Party (SNS) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), as well as the Italian and Hungarian minority MPs. With all options still on the table, the president said he might call another series of talks by the end of the month if a coalition could be formed once the parties make up their minds about how to proceed. A new coalition in the existing parliament still seems more likely than an early election at the moment, with Democrats (SDS) leader Janez Janša launching talks with potential partners on Friday.
Delo poll: Election favoured by 63%, would be won by SDS
LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) would win an election with 18.2% of the vote, followed by the LMŠ of outgoing PM Marjan Šarec with 16.3%, Delo's opinion poll suggests. 62.8% of respondents favour an early election, and over 26% would prefer a new government coalition to be formed with the existing parliamentary parties. The SDS has gained almost five percentage points from January, when it secured 13.3% support, with the the LMŠ adding 4.2 points. The coalition Social Democrats (SD) and the opposition Left are far behind with 7.9% each.
Govt backs consolidation of state-owned tourism assets
LJUBLJANA - The government approved Slovenian Sovereign Holding's (SSH) asset management plan for 2020, which also contains a long-awaited plan to consolidate, manage and restructure tourism companies. While the consolidation plan had been months in the making, the government did not provide any details after today's session. But the consolidation had earlier been said to aim at consolidating tourism companies in terms of ownership and management under the roof of a special state holding in a bid to improve their performance and value to revive the entire sector and to eventually privatise them. SSH's annual asset management plan, which specifies management of individual sectors and of concrete investments, sets the target return on equity at 5.9%, 0.3 pp less than in 2019.
Committee backs extended statute of limitations for sexual offences
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Justice Committee unanimously decided to table an amended proposal to change the sexual abuse provisions of the penal code. Under the existing penal code, such criminal acts fall under the statute of limitations in 10 to 30 years, depending on the expected prison sentence. The reform, proposed by New Slovenia (NSi), envisages the statute of limitations for gravest sexual offences to be tripled. According to the initial NSi proposal, sex offences would never become statute-barred, with the party aiming to help establish a zero-tolerance policy on such acts.
Committee overrides govt to define animals as sentient beings
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Justice Committee voted in favour of an amendment to the property code law that defines animals as sentient beings, taking a step further than the government proposal that upgraded animals from things to living beings. The amendment, which is in line with the original proposal by the Justice Ministry that was rejected by the government, comes as the MPs of five left-leaning parties sided with Justice Minister Andreja Katič on the matter. Reservations due to potential risks were also expressed by the Modern Centre Party (SMC), but Justice Ministry representative insisted the proposed solutions were to the benefit of the citizens and creditors.
Women Economic Forum gets under way in Ljubljana
LJUBLJANA - Over 200 participants from more than 20 countries got together for a three-day Women Economic Forum, an event dedicated to empowering women committed to change. An associate of the All Ladies League, an international network of women, the forum aims to help women expand business opportunities and increase their influence. The slogan of the event is Power of the Pack. Women trustfully supporting Women, highlighting how women have been traditionally taught to be distrustful of one another due to scarcity of top jobs, the organisers say.
Exhibition on migrations puts stories in focus
MARIBOR - An exhibition that puts stories from the front lines of migrations in the spotlight opened in Maribor today, a part of an EU-funded project aimed at disclosing the complexities of migrations. Dubbed Snapshots from the Border and on show at the Vetrinjski Dvor in the centre of the city until 21 February, the exhibition gives a voice to migrants who travel to Europe. The opening will be accompanied by the screening of Stranger in Paradise, a 2016 documentary by Dutch director Guido Hendrikx which has won almost a dozen international awards.
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