Slovenian interior minister survives no-confidence vote

Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar survived an opposition-sponsored vote of no confidence after ten hours of debate in parliament where even two junior ruling coalition parties voiced their misgivings about his handling of problems in the police force, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The motion of no confidence was backed by 29 MPs from the opposition ranks, 17 votes short of the required outright majority needed to pass, as 35 MPs of the ruling Freedom Movement voted against and the other two coalition partners abstained.

The motion, tabled by the conservative party New Slovenia (NSi) and backed by the fellow opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and several unaffiliated MPs, accused the minister of mishandling migrations and letting crime run rampant in Roma communities.

But the main charges were his inaction after a court found the appointment of Police Commissioner Senad Jušić to have been flawed, and over problems at the Security and Protection Centre, a special police unit in charge of protecting senior officials.

Two junior coalition partners appeased

Following weeks of controversy, Jušić resigned last week after the two junior coalition parties, the Social Democrats (SD) and the Left, made it clear he should do so.

As the debate got under way in the afternoon on 21 January, the two parties said they would not help bring down the minister, even if they find his conduct problematic, especially over Jušić's appointment.

Voting in favour of such a motion would mean the parties were breaking the coalition agreement.

Both parties said they expected the coalition to conduct a discussion on how the procedure for the appointment of the police commissioner should change. They also agree that the Security and Protection Centre, under fire for weeks over claims of misdeeds, has to be put in order.

Meanwhile, the Freedom Movement dismissed the ouster motion as being based "not on facts but on insinuations and selective interpretations", arguing the minister "responded decisively" to challenges such as migrations, global conflicts and crime.

Minister insists he has done nothing wrong

The minister rejected all the accusations, insisting that the Administrative Court's decision regarding the commissioner appointment had done nothing to change Jušić's status as police commissioner and that "neither Jušić nor me or the government have done anything wrong."

He pointed to a decline in irregular migration in rejecting the claim of migration mismanagement and said police activities had been stepped up in Roma settlements and the government had finally started working on integrating the Roma.

He trusts the new acting Police Commissioner Damjan Petrič to successfully reorganise the Security and Protection Centre. Within days after his appointment Petrič replaced the head of the embattled unit.

The opposition NSi and SDS argued misdeeds had been so many Poklukar should step down. They spoke of the police "hitting rock bottom" under his watch and being "at risk of chaos", arguing the security situation in the country was deteriorating.