The 2012–2013 Slovenian protests were a series of anti-establishment and anti-government protests. Protesters expressed disapproval with the country's ruling political elite, including Maribor mayor Franc Kangler, prime minister Janez Janša, and parliamentary opposition leader Zoran Janković (all of whom stood accused of corruption by Commission for the Prevention of Corruption).
Protests began on 2 November 2012 as the 2012–2013 Maribor protests against the city's mayor Franc Kangler and subsequently spread to other cities across the country, with protesters demanding resignations and prosecution of politicians and other members of the elite, accused of corruption.
Background 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")Uncles from Behind the Scenes (In Slovene: "Strici iz ozadja"), Dnevnik, 10. November 2012) and against everyone who doubted that austerity measures forced upon Slovenia are right ones.IMF calls time on austerity - but can Greece survive?, BBC News, 11 October 2012A Symposium of Law Experts. Political arbitrariness has gone wild. (In Slovene: "Posvet pravnikov. Samovolja politikov presega vse meje"), Dnevnik, 18 Januar 2013.
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".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 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).- Janša to Žerjav: The worst minister for economy in the history of Slovenia has left the government, MMC RTV Slovenija, 25 February 2013Section of Virant: Virantovanje resembles kurentovanje, MMC RTV Slovenija, 14 February 2013Desus has left the government, Delo, 12 January 2013
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.Interview with Vesna V. Godina, Večer, 5 December 2012.
Timeline
+List of 2012 and 2013 Slovenian protests and figures from the eventsDateVenueNumber of demonstrators1ArrestsProtestersPoliceInjured227 November 2012Ljubljana1,000n/a1n/a28 November 2012Jesenice60n/an/an/a29 November 2012Kranj1,0002n/an/a30 November 2012Ajdovščina200n/an/an/aKoper250n/an/an/aLjubljana10,000301115Nova Gorica400–1,500n/an/an/aNovo mesto300n/an/an/aTrbovlje300n/an/an/aVelenje350n/an/an/a2 December 2012Krško200n/an/an/a3 December 2012Maribor20,000n/an/an/aCelje2,50015n/an/aLjubljana4,000n/an/an/aPtuj600n/an/an/aRavne na Koroškem500n/an/an/aTrbovlje400n/an/an/a4 December 2012Jesenice40011n/an/a6 December 2012Koper40015n/an/aKranj500n/an/an/a7 December 2012Ajdovščina200n/an/an/aBohinjska Bistrica30n/an/an/aLjubljana1,000–2,000n/an/an/aMurska Sobota2,000–2,500n/an/an/a8 December 2012Nova Gorica300n/an/an/a9 December 2012Brežice100–200n/an/an/a11 January 2013Ljubljana8000+2n/an/a8 February 2013Ljubljana20,000+5n/an/a9 March 2013Ljubljana5,000+4n/an/a
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.
See also Trans-Universal Zombie Church of the Blissful Ringing List of protests in the 21st century
References
External links