Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 08/10/2024; Author: David Bajec
During the third Janez Janša government, ministers Aleksandra Pivec, Lilijana Kozlovič and Tomaž Gantar resigned, while Aleš Hojs submitted a resignation letter that the prime minister did not accept.
Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič claimed on TV Slovenia’s current affairs show Politično s Tanjo Gobec on 29 September that “not a single minister resigned in the previous government, even if there were significantly more scandals back then”. He specifically mentioned scandals over “stupid taxes” and the purchase of respirators and protective masks during the Covid pandemic, adding that some ministers had even been taken into custody by criminal investigators and despite that “nothing had happened”.
One of the things that the presenter and the minister discussed was the “blue lights scandal”: In September, N1 reported that the driver of Emilija Stojmenova Duh, who has since resigned from her post of digital transformation minister, had illegally used blue lights on an Austrian motorway. On the day N1 broke the news, the minister offered her resignation to the prime minister, who accepted it immediately.
Three ministers resigned during the third government of Janez Janša, which was in office from March 2020 to June 2022. Aleksandra Pivec, the minister of agriculture, forestry and food, resigned at the October 2020 National Assembly session, just before MPs were due to debate a motion of no confidence. In December of the same year, Tomaž Gantar, the minister of health, resigned as a result of the Pensioner Party’s withdrawal from the coalition. Lilijana Kozlovič, the minister of justice, resigned in May 2021 due to setbacks in the appointment of European delegated prosecutors.
In June 2020, Aleš Hojs, the minister of the interior, submitted a resignation letter, but his resignation was not accepted by the prime minister.
A portion of the minister’s claim – that there were “significantly more affairs in the previous government” – cannot be credibly verified, as the assessment of what constitutes an affair is subjective.
We have informed Minister Boštjančič of our findings. We will publish our response when we receive it.
The claim by Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič that not a single minister resigned in the previous government is not true.
