Mit - Index

Mit - SINFO 2008 04 - 8 - Index

DEvEloPmENt of tHE ExEcutIvE,
lEGISlatIvE aND juDIcIal braNcHES
of PowEr from tHE INDEPENDENcE
of SlovENIa to tHIS Day?
The legislative power changed in accordance with the elections.
The elections reflected the mood and will of the people, and
the executive power arose from that. But the judicial power and
the judges remained the same as before. An exception was the
Constitutional Court, which was appointed after 1989 from a
broader range of judges. But in the appointment in 1998 the
selection of constitutional judges was limited to members of
the former communist party, with constant appeals to respect
the judicial power. In Slovenia, it by no means deserved that, as
it was completely politically defined, selected to suit only one
political party.
Do you claIm tHat If tHE StructurE
of tHE juDIcIal braNcH of PowEr
waS DIffErENt, your caSE woulD
Not bE collEctING DuSt IN tHE court
for all tHESE yEarS?
Yes, if the courts operated as elsewhere, if the initial approach,
the ambition to improve conditions in the courts in the years
1991-93 had continued, I would definitely get back via the court
what was taken from me by force. Then it would not happen
that the court would refuse things that it previously returned. A
rule in the EU is that the main pillars for the functioning of the
market economy are the rule of the law and protection of private
property. Slovenia has not yet achieved European standards in
this sphere.
IN 1992 you StooD aS a caNDIDatE for
tHE PrESIDENt of SlovENIa, oN tHE
INItIatIvE of tHE lIbEral-DEmocratIc
Party (lDS). tHE rESult waS Poor,
aND mIlaN Ku»aN woN. wHy DID you
DEcIDE to ruN IN tHE ElEctIoNS IN
tHE fIrSt PlacE?
In the 12 years of the Liberal Democratic Party rule, the word
'liberal' became incomprehensible. I was misled by the word at
that time. I misunderstood their wishes and approach. I thought
they had learned from the decay of communism. With the
arrival of democracy, Milan KuËan descended from power as the
president of the communists, and presented himself to the public
with some sort of new approach. In fact, LDS was his supporter
from the very beginning, but they only told me 2 weeks before
the elections that they simply didn't support me any more, that
there was no money for my campaign. LDS also had all the media
under control. They made sure that not many people knew about
me, and my books were banned.
How woulD you DEScrIbE tHE
currENt SItuatIoN IN SlovENIa?
19
IntErview
We are still divided. The left wing is extremely hostile towards
anybody who thinks differently. A normal country cannot function
like that. Of course, there is difference of opinion, but that is no
reason to suppress each other. It prevents creating circumstances
which are of vital importance for the functioning of democracy.
We should allow each other to express these opinions, and hold
on to the foundations of democratic structure. I anticipate that
a real change will come when the left wing loses the elections
so badly that they will have to drop their doctrine of division and
disqualifying those who think differently.
Slovenia was lucky that, alongside Yugoslavia, it fell out of the
so-called Stalin circle. In contrast to other Eastern block countries,
our people were able to go work abroad, it was possible to travel
and we also received support from Western countries. Despite
that, we were unfortunately lagging behind our developed
neighbours, mainly due to the lower productivity of the economy.
Slovenia needs to hold on to the European market economy rules,
and above all, encourage the creation of small and medium-sized
companies.
Do you StIll bElIEvE tHat you wIll
GEt bacK EvErytHING tHat waS taKEN
from you DurING aND aftEr tHE
war?
That is a major question, which depends on the administration of
justice in Slovenia. I hope that ultimately a state governed by the
rule of law will prevail.
april 08 sinfo