2012–2013 Slovenian protests
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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 Franc Kangler (born 8 July 1965) is a Slovenian politician. He has served as the mayor of Maribor, the second largest town in the country. On 6 December 2012, due to protests, he stepped down from the position, and he left the office on 31 Decem ...
, prime minister Janez Janša, and parliamentary opposition leader Zoran Janković (all of whom stood accused of corruption by
Commission for the Prevention of Corruption The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Slovenia (acronym CPC; sl, "Komisija za preprečevanje korupcije Republike Slovenije", KPKRS) is an independent anti-corruption agency with a broad mandate in the field of prevent ...
). Protests began on 2 November 2012 as the 2012–2013 Maribor protests against the city's mayor
Franc Kangler Franc Kangler (born 8 July 1965) is a Slovenian politician. He has served as the mayor of Maribor, the second largest town in the country. On 6 December 2012, due to protests, he stepped down from the position, and he left the office on 31 Decem ...
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 Global economic crisis may refer to: *Economic events of the 21st Century: **Financial crisis of 2007–2008 ** Great Recession **The 2020 stock market crash *A global recession *Earlier global economic events, such as: **The Great Depression, a glo ...
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")) and against everyone who doubted that austerity measures forced upon Slovenia are right ones. In relation to the allegations made by official
Commission for the Prevention of Corruption The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Slovenia (acronym CPC; sl, "Komisija za preprečevanje korupcije Republike Slovenije", KPKRS) is an independent anti-corruption agency with a broad mandate in the field of prevent ...
, 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 ''Ad hominem'' (), short for ''argumentum ad hominem'' (), refers to several types of arguments, most of which are fallacious. Typically, this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other ...
attacks by Janez Janša who accused the SLS's leader
Radovan Žerjav Radovan Žerjav (born 2 December 1968) is a Slovenian conservative politician. Between 2007 and 2008 he served as Minister of Transport. During the second term under Janez Janša, he in 2012 served as Minister of Economic Development and Techno ...
of being "the worst (economics) minister in history of Slovenia", while the leader of the Civic List
Gregor Virant Gregor Virant (born 4 December 1969) is a Slovenian politician and public servant. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as Minister of Public Administration in Janez Janša's first government, between 2011–2013 he was Speaker of the National Assemb ...
has been mocked by Janša as engaging in "virantovanje" (a play on words with kurentovanje, a Slovenian carnival festival).


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 Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture. Definition Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular pattern of orientations toward political actions in which ...
earlier in history by the modern representative democracy and individualism.Interview
with Vesna V. Godina, Večer, 5 December 2012.


Timeline

;Notes *
Note 1: The number of protesters is
approximate An approximation is anything that is intentionally similar but not exactly equal to something else. Etymology and usage The word ''approximation'' is derived from Latin ''approximatus'', from ''proximus'' meaning ''very near'' and the prefix ' ...
, 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slovenian protests, 2012-2013 2012 protests 2013 protests 2012 in Slovenia 2013 in Slovenia
Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...
Protests in Slovenia