At the congress, where the party will also present substantive starting points for further work, most of its prominent representatives can be seen alongside the members and supporters of the party, but the former president and MEP are not among them. Ludmila Novak and co-founder of the party and president of the independence government Lojzeta Peterlet.
The latter already believed in the past months that the party’s leadership should consider the further direction of NSi, and before today’s congress, he announced his absence to party leaders in advance. “I did not agree with the ‘center’ played by PR, nor with the mindless jump on the back of Janša, with whom we were three times in the government. … I was also not impressed by pointing out that we were the only ones to make a generational breakthrough. There are not enough of us to “break” each other, respectful intergenerational cooperation would be better,“, according to POP TV, Peterle wrote to party leaders before today’s congress.
At the same time, he assessed for television that if they vote for one and the same face, it cannot bring about changes, and that the current leadership cannot guarantee a breakthrough, as it has already had a long time to do so. Me too, yes tone he will not be able to effectively lead the party as an MEP.
Meanwhile, the current leadership of the party estimates that unification around one candidate shows the stability and strength of the party and its consolidation before the next parliamentary elections.
Bobo photo agency
The election of the president of NSi is actually just a formality, since the only candidate was Matej Tonin.
“In NSi, we are a solid team, we have good plans for the future, we are not afraid of political competition, but we welcome it. It is right that Matej goes for a new mandate, so that we can then go to the elections together in 2026,” said the member of parliament and chairman of the party council in a statement before the congress Jernej Vrtovec. Regarding the speculations that he himself could be a contender for Tonino’s successor at the top of the party, he said that he did not want to speculate. “We have political ambitions, for sure, but at this moment I myself judged that it was right for Matej Tonin to continue as president of NSi,” he added.
Also the leader of the party’s deputies Janez Cigler Kralj asserted that they assessed that the situation in Slovenia is such that it is time to focus on the upcoming parliamentary elections if they want to prepare a good alternative to the current government. “Now is the time for the party to close ranks, consolidate around President Matej Tonin,” he said. At the same time, he assessed that Tonin is present in the party despite his mandate as an MEP in Brussels, and his absence is unknown in the functioning of the party.
Cigler Kralj regrets the absence of some prominent members, because the congress is best if everyone is present, if a critical word or a different view of the party’s present and future is heard. Both Vrtovec and Cigler Kralj are convinced that after the next elections it will be time for a center-right government. Vrtovec believes that Slovenia is embarking on the path of political changes, and that after the mandate of the current government, there will be a new framework, a new political definition, who will even want to participate in the government it leads Robert Dove.
Source: svet24.si
