NEWS
Prime Minister Janez Janša congratulates the newly elected President of the Republic of Slovenia
''Borut Pahor has obtained an excellent and a convincing result; I am particularly thankful to him that in the second round of the presidential campaign he also raised issues which are unpopular but necessary and which in spite of this brought him the support of the voters,'' said the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, after proclamation of the unofficial results of the presidential election.
In addition, the Prime Minister Janez Janša thanked all the citizens who came to the polling stations today. ''The turnout in the second electoral round was lower than in the first round, which is somehow understandable. It was not essentially lower, however, but like in the first round it was below fifty percent. And this is not a good sign,'' said the Prime Minister. He warned that the entire Slovenian politics must take this fact into consideration very seriously and that in the future appropriate steps should be put forward for the people to regain confidence and see that problems can be solved by use of democratic instruments and institutions and that for this purpose changes are required for which, only some months or years ago, nobody even suspected they would ever be necessary.
''The situation in the country at the conclusion of the second round of presidential elections calls for a commendation to be given to the outgoing president Danilo Türk. A commendation for everything good he did in his five-year mandate,''were the Prime Minister's words of thanks. He then called attention to all those who supported the outgoing president and pointed out that Danilo Türk obtained over two thousand hundred votes. ''These are the votes by the people which count in the same way as those cast for the winning candidate. At the same time, one should be aware of the fact that the candidate who lost the election had the support by the largest opposition party, along with the personalities who in the Slovenian public life and politics, regardless of their position, have significant importance''.
The Prime Minister Janša is hopeful that the tensions which brought additional nervousness in the end of the second election round can calm down, at least to a certain degree. And that all those who are trying hard that Slovenia would overcome the crisis can get some room for manoeuvre for a normal work. ''The Government’s or the Prime Minister's mandate is always here, at hand, only ten signatures are needed to initiate the procedure for the formation of a new government. This has happened many times,'' said the Prime Minister and stressed that the Government's mandate, which is associated with the highest responsibility, is the least protected one. ''Heads of state, MP’s, members of the National Council, mayors, members of municipality or city council have a five-year mandate which is untouchable. No such thing can be said of the Government’s or the Prime Minister's mandate,'' explained Janez Janša. Consideration will be required of these issues, including the permanent mandate of judges.
As a result, Prime Minister Janša announced that in the next days, the Government is to launch certain proposals regarding changes in the Slovenian political system as a response to challenges ahead of the country. ''In the past two weeks, the last of the sceptics who disbelieved that Slovenia was in an economic and political crisis probably changed their views. In near future, not only financial anti-crisis measures but also proposals and enforcement of proposals aimed at changes in the Slovenian political system will be urgent. Failing to do so, we will not succeed in removing the blockades, since neither substantial efforts, no matter how intense they may be, and neither long negotiations, including the best of good will by the new president, can prove helpful,'' concluded the Prime Minister.