“Today, the coalition has decided to propose that the National Assembly should call consultative referendums in the thirteen areas that are to become regions in future,” said the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Janez Janša, after meeting with the leaders and deputies of the coalition parties this afternoon. The meeting was also dedicated to an information session on drafting the budget amendment for 2008 and resolving outstanding issues between Slovenia and Croatia.

 

(Photo: Bor Slana/Bobo)

 

As the Prime Minister noted after the meeting, a great deal of work has been put into the project to decentralise Slovenia and establish the necessary foundations to divide Slovenia into regions. He stressed, in this regard, that the coalition was proceeding with the process of Slovenia’s regionalisation despite the fact that certain opposition parties which at first had been in favour of establishing 14 regions had later changed their mind, because “Slovenia simply doesn’t have time to let debates on establishing which regions, where and when, drag on for several years.” The PM also drew attention to the fact that unless the current Government completed Slovenia’s regionalisation in its present term of office, the whole process would have to be started anew in the next term of office.

 

(Photo: Domen Grögl/STA)

 

The coalition therefore proposed today that a referendum be held on 12 + 1 regions, since the city of Ljubljana – following similar models in the European Union – would be granted independent region status with all the competences of a region. Prime Minister Janez Janša also stressed that, in the coalition’s view, it was reasonable to ask people whether they are in favour of regions being established in the proposed areas, and – in cases when names are at issue – to have a final say in the naming of their own region.

 

Even in ideal circumstances, maintained the PM, it would be difficult – if the consultative referendums voted in favour and the National Assembly enacted the referendum result – to set the necessary conditions in place for the regions to come into existence at the start of the National Assembly’s new term of office. The PM added that the coalition had already accepted this fact, its aim now being to time the elections for the regional authorities’ first term of office to coincide with the next local elections in two years’ time.