At today’s 41st extraordinary session of the National Assembly, focused on the purchase of 8x8 AMVs and on alleged suspicions of corruption, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, stressed that the opposition had been the first to propose that an extraordinary session be convened, after the broadcast in which accusations were made by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. He noted that he had been rather surprised that Social Democrat deputies were later unwilling to add their signatures for the extraordinary session to be convened. The Prime Minister said that he was convinced that the opposition’s purpose was to politicise and not clarify this matter; PM Janez Janša continued by saying that he had never spoken with Mr Wolf, did not know him and had never been in any direct contact with him.  PM Janez Janša firmly refuted the allegations of bribery, dismissing them as false and absurd.

 

(Photo: Bor Slana/Bobo)

 

According to the Prime Minister, the news that had been launched abroad completely altered the course of the general election campaign. He regretted the fact that, two weeks before the elections, the entire country is discussing false and unfounded accusations made by the Finnish Broadcasting Company, which refuses to publish proof of its absurd allegations; instead, time would be much better spent discussing how to improve the quality of our lives. “Had there been irrefutable proof, or had at least circumstantial evidence existed, it would already have been made known,” declared the Prime Minister.

 

In the Prime Minister’s words, the Government never discussed or made decisions regarding the purchase of 8x8 MVs in this term of office; the relevant decision was already taken by the previous government. Only an international invitation to tender was published in this context by the Ministry of Defence; all the required procedures were first initiated and then concluded by signing a contract with the selected bidder. According to the Prime Minister, Defence Minister Karl Erjavec informed him of the procedure prior to the contract being signed; he did not influence the Defence Minister’s decision, as this does not fall within the competence of the Prime Minister. 

 

PM Janez Janša also explained that a number of documents had been found at Finland’s Patria, including notes on market analyses comprising speculation as to how to do business in Slovenia. These documents contained a number of abbreviations, also an occasional “J”. However, the authorities in Slovenia came under suspicion only after a certain person from Slovenia came to Finland, “… because it was stated in Finland that Slovenia was a country wallowing in corruption, with its Prime Minister putting a stop to the investigation, with the State Prosecutor General’s appointment being a political one, since she had once been a presidential candidate.”   

 

Prime Minister Janša recalled Patria’s director stating that Patria had to adapt to the situation in the Slovenian market, and stressed the need to know when exactly Patria had been carrying out a market analysis. “It was not carried out in 2007 or 2006; it was carried out in 2005, when the incumbent Government was only beginning its term of office,” said the Prime Minister, adding that “if they assumed that the way to do business with Slovenia is by bribing people, this assessment could not have been made on the basis of the work of the present Government.”

 

The Prime Minister also touched on both notes sent by Slovenia to the Finnish Government. In the first note, the Slovenian Government asked the Finnish side to produce evidence to substantiate the accusations made in YLE’s broadcast. It was stated in the broadcast that the evidence was to be found at Patria, whose major owner is the Finnish state, which, consequently, makes this company the direct responsibility of the Finnish Government.  The second note pertained to Slovenian newspapers that had carried numerous quotations of Finnish officials, which later proved not to have been made at all. The Prime Minister explained that he had spoken with the Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, who said that his Government had made no such statements.

 

The Prime Minister asserted that after the broadcast the Slovenian opposition demanded the cancellation of the contract with Patria. Today, he therefore invited the deputies who believed it was necessary to risk a lawsuit with Patria and cancel the contract on the basis of the anti-corruption clause to provide the relevant guarantee. “If you have such faith in your evidence and if you are so sure that you are in the right, then accept the liability with your own assets – not taxpayers’ money – if this case is taken to court; then we will cancel the contract, in one way or another. Or else you should stop bandying this about; this is not academic or philosophical – this is law,” said the Prime Minister.

 

“I cannot prove here that I am innocent because I don’t know what I am charged with.  I have not seen one single trace of evidence,” stressed the Prime Minister, going on to add that the National Assembly is competent to debate reports submitted by the investigating authorities, to address queries to them and to clarify the matter. He said he hoped that the discussion of such an absurd and unproven accusation would be withdrawn from the pre-election debates as of today, because he believed that two million Slovenes deserve better.

 

At the end of his address to the extraordinary session, the Prime Minister proposed the termination of debate on the 8x8 AMVs and its politicisation. According to the Prime Minister, there is still enough time in the general election campaign to discuss topics of vital importance for the lives of Slovenians in the coming four years. "In half a year's time, nobody will be talking about Patria; everybody will be concentrating on taxes, wages, pensions, decentralisation of the state, infrastructure, investment in national roads and whatever else must still be taken care of for the future. It would be a great pity not to dedicate productive time in the pre-election campaign to this purpose," observed the Slovenian Prime Minister. In the Prime Minister's words, politics should be limited to political matters - while matters falling within the competence of the authorities responsible for them should be left to these authorities to clarify. Prime Minister Janša added that the National Assembly was the least appropriate forum for negative signals and disrespect of the rule of law. "This undermines the rule of law; and the State Prosecutor's Office, the police and all those in Slovenia who ensure that the rule of law is upheld certainly do not deserve it," concluded the Prime Minister.