NEWS

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, in her answers to parliamentary questions: "The Government will adopt only reasonable measures which will not drastically interfere with the social rights of the people"

At today's 13th regular session of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, answered questions from the deputies. The first question relating to the fiscal rule and the Positive Slovenia's position on this issue came from Franc Bogovič, Deputy from the Slovenian People's Party. The Prime Minister responded by stressing that the agreement reached at the meeting with the presidents of parliamentary parties that the final decision regarding this issue would be made after all calculations and consequences for the social rights on the national level have been known still held. "I think that in this case it is essential to explain to the public the consequences of endorsing the fiscal rule and entering it into the constitution in 2015. According to the information gathered so far and as planned by the previous Government, this would imply a radical intervention in the people's living standard and their social rights: pensions, wages or social transfers. Nobody wants such drastic measures, they are not necessary and we do not need them at this moment. My Government will be committed to adopting reasonable measures," said the Prime Minister and stressed that nobody wanted to live in a country in which only the wealthy can afford education for their children. The Prime Minister also added that all measures would be presented to the public before being communicated to Brussels and that it was essential to equitably allocate the burden of the crisis and preserve the welfare state. "We will continue to borrow, but we will also indicate the possibilities as to when and how our debt will start to decrease," concluded Prime Minister Bratušek.

 

The following parliamentary question was asked by New Slovenia's Deputy, Matej Tonin. He was particularly interested in the bad bank concept and the Government's activity in this area. The Prime Minister pointed out by way of introduction that Andrej Šircelj, Non-Executive Director of the bad bank, was among the audience and that he could provide better answers regarding the bad bank's activities than the Prime Minister herself. "I hope and I will make every effort to ensure that this Government is the last to deal with the rehabilitation of the banking system as a priority. This task was already dealt with by the two previous Governments and I hope that it will be completed during the current Government’s term of office.  Our aim is to resolve the matter relating to bad bank as early as next June," said the Prime Minster and added that the law also provided for a number of other measures that would contribute to a faster rehabilitation of the banking system and Slovenia's public finances in general. "But four weeks is not enough to accomplish what the previous Government failed to do. There are no calculations as to how the bad bank will affect Slovenian taxpayers, but we are going to make them," declared the Prime Minister and warned that there is no time to search for new solutions.

 

The Deputy Jože Tanko from the Slovenian Democratic Party asked the Prime Minister how she planned to advocate strict compliance with the constitutional principle of equality of all before the law in connection with the problem of plagiarism in her master's thesis. The Prime Minister replied that she was well aware of the fact that all people are equal before the constitution and the law and that she expected the same awareness from all deputies. "There are several simultaneously ongoing proceedings and I expect that the same rules will apply to all. If the commission finds that I have committed plagiarism, I will resign. I co-authored the quotations which I am suspected of having copied," stressed the Prime Minister.

The Social Democratic Party Deputy, Matjaž Han, asked the Prime Minister about the solution proposed by the Slovenian Government to rescue companies in trouble. "The Government is striving to preserve every single job since it is easier and more cost effective to preserve an existing job than to create a new one. We are close to finding a solution for the company Cimos, which took us less than four weeks; it is something the previous Government was unable to resolve during the eighteen months of term," stressed the Prime Minister in her reply and added that the Minister of the Economy was dealing only with this issue for the moment. Moreover, the finding of a solution would be facilitated by the rehabilitation of the banking system which would again be able to service the economy and revive economic growth. A wide range of measures and additional forms of state aid to companies in trouble had been envisaged in order to provide fresh money to the enterprise sector as a vital element for restarting the economy. The proceeds from the sale, i.e. privatisation, of companies would return to the economy and thus contribute to the resuscitation of economic growth. According to the Prime Minister, a special study on state aid to companies is under preparation: "It will be primarily intended for companies which have the chance of survival and will become the driving force behind Slovenia’s economy."