Karl Erjavec

Ljubljana – The newspaper Delo notes on Saturday that there is a long history of scandals involving arms deals in Slovenia. Commenting on a government-to-government purchase of a transport aircraft from Italy, the paper says that the Defence Ministry has checked whether the deal could be carried out without an anti-corruption clause in the contract.

Ljubljana – The Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) elected Ljubo Jasnič, a former secretary general of the party, the new party head at a congress in Ljubljana on Saturday. He received 54 out of 117 votes.

Ljubljana – The Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) will hold a congress on Saturday to elect what will be its third leadership in a year and a half. Last December, after less than a year under Aleksandra Pivec, the party again elected its ex-boss Karl Erjavec, but he stepped down in March. There are three contenders now.

Ljubljana – The executive committee of the Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) was expected to decide on Friday whether to strip its MPs of party membership over their recent voting record. Due to procedural issues, the matter was not put to a vote.

Four regional chapters would have had to back the proposal to hold a vote, but only two did, the party’s interim president Brigita Čokl said.

Ljubljana – Three MPs of the opposition Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) are upset about statements by interim party head Brigita Čokl about them in the media. They are particularly bothered by her saying that a stick would be needed to deal with MPs because the carrot approach does not work. They hired a lawyer demanding she revoke the statements.

Ljubljana – Four members of parliament, including Speaker Igor Zorčič, will form a new deputy group in parliament on Friday after three of them parted ways with the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC) and one left the opposition Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS) deputy group. This is expected to lead to the appointment of a new parliamentary speaker.

Ljubljana – Former Health Minister Tomaž Gantar has left the Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS). Gantar, who also served as a party vice-president, announced the decision at a session of the DeSUS executive committee on Thursday. He told the STA he had been waiting for a proposal to consolidate the party, but given the developments he realised he had enough.

Ljubljana – Karl Erjavec, the leader of the Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS), announced on Wednesday he was stepping down as president. He is no longer a member of the party either, saying that this was no longer the party he led for 15 years.

Ljubljana – Karl Erjavec, the president of the Pensioners’ Party (DeSUS), has taken a job at the telecommunications equipment provider Iskratel where he will advise the CEO on expansion to new markets, prompting speculations about the future of his political career.

Brdo pri Kranju – Slovenia’s political representatives and experts will meet in the first half of March in a bid to find a common ground on the exit strategy and restructuring of healthcare needs in the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic, President Borut Pahor has announced.