2012–2013 Slovenian protests
The 2012–2013 Slovenian protests were an ongoing series of protests against the Slovenian political elite members, including the mayor Franc Kangler, the leader of right-wing government Janez Janša, and the leader of opposition Zoran Janković, all three of them in 2013 officially accused of corruption by Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.[1][2][3][4][5] They began on 2 November 2012 as the 2012–2013 Maribor protests against the mayor Franc Kangler.[6] The protests spread from Maribor to other cities and towns throughout the country, demanding resignations and prosecutions of politicians and other members of the elite, accused of corruption.[7][8][9][10][11]
Political situation in Slovenia
Government under the right-wing leader Janez Janša responded to the weakening of Slovenian economy during the global economic crisis and European sovereign-debt crisis with opening up old ideological fronts against liberal media, and against public sector - especially educational and cultural sectors, accusing them of being under influence of members of old regime (called Udbomafia and "Uncles from Behind the Scenes" (In Slovene: "strici iz ozadja")[12]) and against everyone who doubted that austerity measures forced upon Slovenia are right ones.[13][14]
In relation to the allegations made by official Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Janša's party sent letters to the right-wing European Parliament members, discrediting the Commission's report as part of "the communist campaign that begun in 1983 with the aim to remove Janša from politics".[15] Since Janša was ignoring the report and his party didn't offer any replacement for him, all three coalition parties and their leaders left the government within weeks and were subjected to ad hominem attacks by Janez Janša who accused the SLS's leader Radovan Žerjav of being "the worst (economics) minister in history of Slovenia", while the leader of the Civic List Gregor Virant has been mocked by Janša as engaging in "virantovanje" (a play on words with kurentovanje, a Slovenian carnival festival).[16][17][18]
Reception
Reception by public intellectuals
The cause for demonstrations has been attributed by some public intellectuals to misunderstanding of post-socialist political elite who rejected "collectivism as socialist pattern" while, according to notable Slovene anthropologist Vesna V. Godina it is in fact a "pre-socialist pattern", originating from the way the traditional Slovene rural community was functioning much longer than in other – mainly Protestant and to much lesser degree in the mainly Catholic – modern nations, who have replaced traditional political culture earlier in history by the modern representative democracy and individualism.[19]
History
Date | Venue | Number of demonstrators1 | Arrests | Protesters | Police |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Injured2 | |||||
27 November 2012 | Ljubljana | 1,000[20] | n/a | 1[20] | n/a |
28 November 2012 | Jesenice | 60[21] | n/a | n/a | n/a |
29 November 2012 | Kranj | 1,000[22] | 2[22] | n/a | n/a |
30 November 2012 | |||||
Ajdovščina | 200[8] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Koper | 250[8] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Ljubljana | 10,000[23] | 30[23] | 11[23] | 15[23] | |
Nova Gorica | 400[8]–1,500[24] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Novo mesto | 300[8] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Trbovlje | 300[8] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Velenje | 350[8] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
2 December 2012 | Krško | 200[25] | n/a | n/a | n/a |
3 December 2012 | |||||
Celje | 2,500[9] | 15[10] | n/a | n/a | |
Ljubljana | 4,000[9] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Ptuj | 600[9] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Ravne na Koroškem | 500[9] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Trbovlje | 400[10] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
4 December 2012 | Jesenice | 400[26] | 11[26] | n/a | n/a |
6 December 2012 | |||||
Koper | 400[27] | 15 | n/a | n/a | |
Kranj | 500[27] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
7 December 2012 | |||||
Ajdovščina | 200[28] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Bohinjska Bistrica | 30[28] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Ljubljana | 1,000–2,000[28] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
Murska Sobota | 2,000–2,500[11] | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
8 December 2012 | Nova Gorica | 300[24] | n/a | n/a | n/a |
9 December 2012 | Brežice | 100–200[29] | n/a | n/a | n/a |
11 January 2013 | Ljubljana | 8000+[30] | 2[30] | n/a | n/a |
8 February 2013 | Ljubljana | 20,000+[31] | 5[31] | n/a | n/a |
9 March 2013 | Ljubljana | 5,000+[32] | 4[32] | n/a | n/a |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demonstrations and protests in Slovenia in 2012. |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demonstrations and protests in Slovenia in 2013. |
- Notes
- Note 1: The number of protesters is approximate, given by the media.
- Note 2: The list includes only those who sought and received medical treatment.
References
- Rok Kajzer (15 November 2012). "Kangler je korumpiran. Pika" (in Slovenian). Delo. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- B.G./STA/N.D./M.K. (15 November 2012). "Protikorupcijska komisija: Kangler vpleten v korupcijo" (in Slovenian). 24ur. Retrieved 23 November 2012.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- "Mariborska hobotnica" (in Slovenian). Večer. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- Ali Žerdin (3 December 2012). "Mreža Franca Kanglerja" (in Slovenian). Slovenske novice. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- Robert Galun; Miha Rubin (22 November 2012). "Mariborčani: Kangler naj v dobro mesta odstopi" (in Slovenian). Delo. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- A.S. (2 November 2012). "Mariborska opozicija zahteva, da župan pokaže dokumentacijo" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- S.S./M.R. (26 November 2012). "V Mariboru prijetih najmanj 25 nasilnežev, poškodovanih pa 15 ljudi" (in Slovenian). 24ur. Retrieved 26 November 2012.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- T.H. (30 November 2012). "V Trbovljah državi prižgali svečo, mirno tudi drugje" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
- Al. Ma.; L. L.; B. V.; A. Č. (3 December 2012). "V Mariboru razdejanje, v Ljubljani sproščeno" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- Vesna Lambergar; Matic Flajšman; Polona Šemnički (3 December 2012). "Protest v Celju: pridržali 15 oseb, 15-letnika že izpustili" (in Slovenian). 24ur. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- G. C.; Al. Ma. (7 December 2012). "Ajdovci politike pošiljajo "v maloro"" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- Uncles from Behind the Scenes (In Slovene: "Strici iz ozadja"), Dnevnik, 10. November 2012
- IMF calls time on austerity - but can Greece survive?, BBC News, 11 October 2012
- A Symposium of Law Experts. Political arbitrariness has gone wild. (In Slovene: "Posvet pravnikov. Samovolja politikov presega vse meje"), Dnevnik, 18 Januar 2013.
- Pribac: The SDS Letter Is Interpreting the Recent 30 Years of Slovene History as Socialist Conspiracy Against Janša (In Slovene: "Pribac: Pismo SDS predstavlja zadnjih 30 let slovenske zgodovine kot socialistično zaroto zoper Janšo"), Dnevnik, 17 January 2013
- - Janša to Žerjav: The worst minister for economy in the history of Slovenia has left the government, MMC RTV Slovenija, 25 February 2013
- Section of Virant: Virantovanje resembles kurentovanje, MMC RTV Slovenija, 14 February 2013
- Desus has left the government, Delo, 12 January 2013
- Interview Archived 14 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine with Vesna V. Godina, Večer, 5 December 2012.
- A.Č., Luka Lukič (27 November 2012). "Protestniki pred DZ-jem: Obrnite se proti parlamentu, barabe so tam!" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 26 November 2012.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- A.Č. (28 November 2012). "Na Jesenicah protestiralo okoli 60 ljudi: "Ejga, konc je!"" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- A.Č. (29 November 2012). "Kranjski protesti minili mirno, razbiti dve šipi, dva človeka pridržana" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- Al. Ma., T. H., S. B. L. B. V. (30 November 2012). "Ranjenih 11 protestnikov in 15 policistov. 30 pridržanih" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 1 December 2012.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- B.V. (8 December 2012). "300 ljudi v Novi Gorici proti državni politiki" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- A. S.; Goran Rovan (2 December 2012). "Protestni shod na trgu Matije Gubca v Krškem" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- G.C. (4 December 2012). "Prekinjen protestni shod na Jesenicah. 11 pridržanih" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- S. B. L.; A. S. (6 December 2012). "V Kopru v sodno palačo letela pirotehnična sredstva" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- Al. Ma. (7 December 2012). "1.000 ljubljanskih protestnikov s pesmijo in plesom "proti diktaturi kapitala"" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- B.R. (9 December 2012). "V Brežicah proti politični eliti in korupciji" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- Pi. K.; Ni. K.; An. B. (11 January 2013). "2. vseslovenska vstaja (v živo)". Delo. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- "Največja vseslovenska vstaja do zdaj. Protestiralo 20.000 ljudi". RTV Slovenia. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- "4. vseslovenska vstaja končna s pozivom: Oblast ljudem!". RTV Slovenia. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.