CLASH OF OPINIONS IS AS ESSENTIAL AS OUR DAILY BREAD
Meeting of the Union of Reserve Army Officers on the occasion of the War Veterans Day
Speech by Milan Kucan, President of the Central Committee of the Slovene League of Communists (CKZKS)

Kranj, 4 July 1986

Immediately after assuming the office of President of the CKZKS, Milan Kucan clearly expressed his determination for open political dialogue, and for a democratic, polemic, and creative clash of opinions. At the same time he was determined in rejecting the policy which holds a monopoly on the truth. In his speech addressed to army officers and Second World War veterans, he also said “They claim a monopoly of the truth in the very same way as the bureaucracy. Like the bureaucracy, they do not need any arguments; all they need is their opinion. They bestow on themselves the irrevocable right to political and human qualification and disqualification of those who do not think in the same way as they do, the right to use untruth and fabrications, the right to exercise pressure on the work of courts and other democratic institutions in our system. They are right when they say dialogue is not possible. They are right because dialogue is only possible when its participants enjoy equality, when this is a discussion between people who in the interest of a cause, idea and the truth protect the dignity of the other person engaged in the discussion. At this point it seems worth recalling Voltaire and his famous idea: “I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. A democratic clash of opinions is as essential as our daily bread.”

The text of the entire speech is available at the Republic of Slovenia Archives.