NEWS

Prime Minister's press conference

At the press conference following the regular weekly meeting of the ministerial corps, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, explained that the Slovenian Government would as soon as possible draft a new methodology for appointing state representatives to management bodies, where such obligation falls within its scope of competence. In this spirit, the ministers today only attended to the most pressing appointments.

 

(Photo: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

Thus, the Slovenian Government today dismissed those members of the Officials' Council who were appointed to this function from among officials of the former government, and appointed new members to this body. These are recognised staff managers and experts in the area of public administration. The Prime Minister affirmed that the Government, by taking this step, wishes to end the appetite of political parties for high offices, and in so doing to change the previous practice in this area.

 

(Photo: Bor Slana/Bobo)

 

Mr Pahor also said the Government adopted the proposal to ratify the accession treaties of Croatia and Albania to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and submitted it to the Slovenian National Assembly. Thus the Slovenian Government dismissed possible speculation over the significance of delaying this decision, the Prime Minister said; he added that the Government had acted on this issue with full autonomy and independently from the developments relating to Croatia's pre-accession process of EU integration. "The decision as to when the National Assembly intends to discuss this act is at its absolute discretion," Prime Minister Pahor said. "The National Assembly will also decide on the type of majority required to adopt or defeat this act. The decision in respect of this issue is not unimportant; however, any statement from my side could constitute interference in the powers of the National Assembly, and therefore I will not take any position on this matter."

 

(Photo: Kristina Kosec/Bobo)

 

Among other decisions, the Slovenian Government today also adopted a proposed order on criteria and conditions for issuing guarantees according to Article 86 of the Public Finance Act. The aforementioned act, prepared by the Ministry of Finance, was intended to be discussed at the previous Government meeting; however, following a decision by the ministerial corps, additional consultations were held within the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Monetary Policy before the final discussion. According to Mr Pahor, these consultations were quite welcome, as certain proposals by members of the National Assembly were included in the wording of the act adopted today. Prime Minister Pahor concluded by saying the Government will in the future also be willing to lend an ear and listen to timely critical observations relating to decisions it intends to adopt, as in his opinion, joint action could lead to better solutions.