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THE COUNTRY IS NOT IN POLITICAL CRISIS
President Milan Kucan's press conference - (video in slovenian language)
Ljubljana, 14 April 2000
SPELA FURLAN
Welcome. If you would allow me, I propose that we begin today's press conference where, as announced, the President of the Republic is to announce whether or not he will propose a candidate for the position of Prime Minister to the National Assembly. First the President's introductory words to be followed by your questions. Mr President, the floor is yours.
MILAN KUCAN
Thank you. Distinguished Ladies, distinguished Gentlemen. A good day to you all.
I would like to inform you, and through you the Slovenian public, that I sent a letter to the National Assembly today, informing the Deputies of my decision not to make use of the possibility to propose a candidate for the position of Prime Minister to the National Assembly at this point. I made this decision after having conducted several talks with people who to my mind meet the high criteria for performing the function of Primer Minister.
Allow me to briefly outline the reasons behind my decision and to give you my view of the circumstances and the reasons that have led to such circumstances.
As you know, on Saturday, 8 April of this year, the National Assembly was deciding on a vote of confidence to the Government. That day the President of the National Assembly, Mr Janez Podobnik, informed me that the Government did not receive a vote of confidence in the National Assembly. The vote was proposed by Prime Minister Dr Janez Drnovsek due to a reconstruction of the Government. He decided to reconstruct the Government after the SLS decided to leave Government before to the expiration of its term and after having received written notice of this from the Vice Prime Minister and SLS Party Chairman.
This decision put the Government and the state under a demanding test. Prime Minister Drnovsek was prepared to find an immediate way out. He was prepared to take on the great responsibility and, to my mind, also the risk, of completing the mandate invested in him in spite of the decision of the coalition partner, the People's Party, thus ensuring that projects concerning our country's strategic interests – here I am mainly talking about EU and NATO accession, including relations with neighbouring countries – would continue without substantial disturbances until regular parliamentary elections this autumn.
After the vote of confidence failed, the state or, to be more exact, the National Assembly, faced the task of electing a new Government within 30 days, as stipulated by the constitution, or to allow, after the expiration of this deadline, for the early election of a new National Assembly, which would then elect a Prime Minister and cabinet ministers, meaning a new Government. The decision I made, of which I informed the National Assembly and yourselves, was supported by prior consultations. In accordance with the duties and competencies stipulated by Art. 117 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and Art. 218 (280?) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly in such circumstances, I consulted the chairmen of parliamentary parties and heads of deputies' groupings in the National Assembly as well as several personalities from public, political and economic spheres and state officials on the possible ways out of the present situation and on the possibility for me to propose a candidate for Prime Minister to the National Assembly.
In view of the limited amount of time at my disposal, these consultations were very intense. Consultations with parliamentary parties demonstrated that parties have differing, widely differing views on the way out of the present situation. LDS, ZLSD, DeSUS, SNS and both minority deputies see a solution in early elections to take place as soon as possible. They have no proposals for a prime-ministerial candidate, they do not intend to support any proposed prime minister or government. In their view, any attempt at forming a government would only prolong the unstable situation. Even a possible election of a prime minister would not contribute to stabilisation due to the small majority or small margin of support that such a government would enjoy, as well as due to the relatively short term in office.
SLS, SKD and SDS, although through slightly differing argumentation, basically uniformly reject elections according to the current electoral system that is enacted by law. They therefore give priority to the election of a government with a limited term until the regular parliamentary elections, with a substantively limited mandate for preparing the ground for negotiations with the EU. In these consultations with political parties, only the representatives of one party proposed a possible candidate that would be supported by them if put to vote.
Most of my other collocutors were of the opinion that the fundamental task and objective is to guarantee long-term stable conditions in the country. They departed from the following points:
1. there are important projects lying ahead, linked to strategic objectives and interests of the state, in particular fully fledged EU and NATO membership and the settling of relations with neighbouring states.
2. these projects require a government with a high level of credibility at home and abroad, with a full term in office, enjoying high support and exhibiting a high level of capacity and efficiency, and
3. that a requirement for the forming and especially the functioning of such a government is political stability.
It is therefore in the interest of political and general stability in the country:
1. either for the National Assembly to elect a Government enjoying high support from the deputies and that will allow for the effective functioning and credibility at home, and, I emphasise this particularly, abroad as well; or
2. should it turn out that such a high support cannot be assured within the deadlines and according to the procedures stipulated by the Constitution, it should enable or hand over the decision to the citizens who will express their will at an election, distributing their confidence to those who are to run the country on their behalf and to the benefit of all in the next term.
To my mind this is the most reliable path. At any rate it is much more reliable than clientellistic winning over of deputies' votes in the existing National Assembly. It guarantees a more long-term stability for our country. It is the will of the electorate, that is the will of the people, who are competent for judging confidence. In my view the stable circumstances generated by an election and the resulting government would enable not only a more long-term stability but also a sound decision on the electoral system, thus alleviating one of the key hot spots of constant political confrontation in the country. It would also do away with a forced doubt as to the rule of law. The responsibility and the power to decide on this is in the hands of the deputies of the National Assembly.
I would like to tell you that I myself also subscribe to such an opinion. An opinion, that is, that the most reliable path towards stable conditions which the country urgently needs would be a decision to organise early elections as soon as possible. But there is also another way. On this path towards elections lies a demanding constitutional procedure which also offers an opportunity to the current National Assembly that passed a vote of non-confidence to Prime Minister Dr Janez Drnovsek to review its responsibility and try to form a new Government, thus stabilising the situation until regular parliamentary elections.
Following the consultations I mentioned earlier and in my talks I have not yet succeeded in obtaining the agreement of those candidates who, to my mind, could successfully run the Government in this situation. Only with their approval, that is the approval of the candidates, could I propose them to the National Assembly with full responsibility, resting assured that they could achieve sufficient support following consultations with parliamentary groupings and later at the voting, a prerequisite for successful work in the position of Prime Minister.
The arguments as to which candidates are eligible in the current circumstances in which the decision is being made followed my views on the current situation, which is of decisive importance for the success and performance of the function of Prime Minister, if we were to opt for them. These circumstances are substantially defined by the balance of power in the National Assembly, the short duration of the term in office, the objective limits on the term's substantive aspects, as well as the opposition of some of the parties – meaning expected difficulties with the forming of the Government and its subsequent operation.
A productive change of this situation could only occur with elections. It is for these reasons that I have decided, as I mentioned in the beginning, not to use the opportunity at this stage to propose a candidate for the post of Prime Minister to the National Assembly. I should like to underline, however, that this does not mean that I don't intend to discontinue efforts to find good solutions that would lead to the stability of the country in line with the constitution and that are possible within the deadline and procedure for the election of a Government.
Finally, I would like to stress that this is not a political crisis that the country is facing. The fall of a Government is a known, although not a desirable phenomenon in parliamentary democracies. At any rate it is not desirable enough to incite champagne toasts and songs anywhere. Parliamentary democracies also have mechanisms and procedures to resolve such situations. Our constitutional system also contains such mechanisms and procedures. This system, or indeed these solutions, guarantee the system's stability, in particular the stability of the government.
A crisis could occur, however, if we were to fail to use these mechanisms, these systemic mechanisms, including that of early elections. The crisis, if it were to occur, would naturally pose a threat to the confidence and prestige Slovenia enjoys in the world, a threat to the foreign as well as monetary stability of the country, its economic growth and social stability of the country and its society. All of us bear a responsibility to prevent this from happening. Each of us their own responsibility. I am talking about the players involved in the mechanisms of the state, the President of the Republic, the Government, the National Assembly, the political parties. I am particularly talking about those political parties whose decision has put the country to this test, in my opinion without any convincing reasons. I expect composure and responsibility to prevail and that a solution that will be optimal for this country and for the lives of the people of Slovenia.
Thank you.
SPELA FURLAN
Thank you very much, Mr President. The floor is now open, the President is ready to answer your questions. I would also like to ask you to use the microphone when posing questions. Copies of the letter which the President sent to the National Assembly will also be made available to you after the press conference.
JOURNALIST
Mr President, what is the significance of your not proposing a candidate to the National Assembly and how much damage has this government crisis already caused in the EU?
MILAN KUCAN
Starting with your second question, I believe that no damage has been done for now other than generating concern with our friends and partners throughout the world, including the EU. Yesterday's meeting of the coordinating body of parliamentary parties, a special institution in our system, was encouraging, since, according to the statements made by the participants, full consensus was achieved that support for the measures and actions concerning Slovenia's EU accession will not be jeopardised. From this point of view it is therefore my opinion that for the time being, provided we reach a solution within the given timeframe and without particular turbulence, no damage should occur.
You asked me about the significance, if any, of my not proposing a candidate for Prime Minister to the National Assembly for the time being. I am not putting forward a candidate because, as I said, I did not get approval from those who in my mind are able to perform this function. If a Prime Minister proposed by others is to be elected, than the issue will be resolved with the procedure for the formation of a new Government. If not, I shall again study my options, for I am continuing discussions with my collocutors about this and perhaps I will propose a candidate within the next election deadlines.
JOURNALIST
Mr President, in view of your assessment or opinion that a noble conservative party is lacking on the Slovenian political scene, do you expect this void to be filled tomorrow?
MILAN KUCAN
If I understood you correctly, tomorrow is the day that the merging of two politically and programme-wise related parties may occur, namely that of the Slovenian People's Party and the Slovenian Christian Democrats. Whether or not this will indeed occur is up to the leaders of these parties. As to the nature of the new party, it will be demonstrated by its actions.
JOURNALIST
Mr President, Will you immediately begin your second round of talks with the chairmen of parliamentary parties next week, regardless of their work?
How do you assess the possibility of a boycott of the current proportional system in the event of early elections?
MILAN KUCAN
Responsibility now rests with the Deputies of the National Assembly and with parliamentary parties. Should the National Assembly decide to elect a Prime Minister and form a Government, then there is no reason to hold, as you put it, a second round of talks with them.
As regards early elections, should they occur, the Constitution and other laws regulate the procedures and conditions in which early elections can be, or to put it more precisely, must be organised.
Regarding an election boycott. Political parties can decide to boycott elections, and here I agree with the opinion of Prof. Dr Pirnat published in a recent interview, namely that a boycott of elections is a boycott of democracy. Every party's credibility will be tested by elections as well as by their participation in non-elections, i.e. calling for a boycott of elections.
REPORTER
Mr President, you mentioned that your recent consultations were very intense. Following discussions with party chairmen and leaders of parliamentary groupings, the chairman of the social democrats Janez Jansa was in a way least articulate in his assessments. I believe he said something along the lines of these consultations being merely a formality and that he therefore has nothing to say to the public. Could you comment his assessment, please?
MILAN KUCAN
Any discussion is a discussion between two or more persons and each of them has their own understanding of such discussions. The talks I held about where they see a way out of the present situation, resulting from the National Assembly's decision not to pass a vote of confidence for Dr Drnovsek's government, which I asked everyone, told me a lot, particularly my discussion with the chairman of the Social-Democratic Party. I got an answer to this question and, of course, also an answer as to how I should act in view of the answers I received. I was very satisfied with this discussion.
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