US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA1069

UNCLAS  LJUBLJANA 001069 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, ECON, SI 
SUBJECT: JANSA SENT THE LIST OF CABINET CANDIDATES 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY:  On Wednesday afternoon, November 24, after 
the signing of a coalition agreement by all four presidents 
of the coalition parties, Prime Minister Janez Jansa sent a 
list of 16 proposed ministerial candidates to the National 
Assembly for approval.  The National Assembly has seven days 
(until November 30) to approve the entire slate.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) The list of candidates with brief biographical 
information is as follows: 
 
-- Dr. Dimitrij Rupel (SDS), nominated for Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, was foreign minister from 2000 -- 2004 (and 
previously 1990-1993), Slovene Ambassador to US (years1997- 
2000), and Mayor of Ljubljana (1995-1997).   He was 
dismissed as FoMin just before national elections in June of 
2004. and  He then left the Liberal Democratic Party to join 
Slovene Democratic Party deputy group and run for 
Parliament.  He was also one of the initiators creators of 
the Assembly for the Republic.  (Note: during elections, 
Rupel was listed as an "independent" on the SDS list. 
However, in recent press, he has been identified as a member 
of SDS, and Rupel has not made a point of disagreeing with 
this characterization.) 
 
-- Dr. Gregor Virant [not affiliated but close to Jansa's 
SDS party] nominated as Minister for Public Administration, 
a newly established ministry under Jansa's government. 
Virant was a former State Secretary at the Ministry of 
Interior in charge of Public Administration reform, and 
creator of the Ministry of Public Administration.  He was 
also a member of Jansa's Expert Council. 
 
-- Dr. Vasko Simoniti [SDS], nominated as Minister of 
Culture, is a professor of History at the Philosophical 
Philosophy Faculty at the University of Ljubljana.   andHe 
was head of the presidential election campaign in 2002 for 
independent candidate Barbara Brezigar [supported by SDS and 
NSi]. 
 
-- Mr. Andrej Vizjak [SDS], nominated as Minister of 
Economy, is currently the mayor of Brezice and a member of 
parliament.  His main goals as minister will be reforming 
government regulation of business, especially with respect 
to administrative barriers and taxation. 
 
-- Mr. Andrej Brucan [SDS], nominated as Minister of Health, 
is vice-president of SDS and was the Minister of Health 
during Bajuk's government (2000). Since 1979 he has headed 
the Urgent Internal Medical Office of the Clinical Center in 
Ljubljana. 
 
-- Dr. Milan Zver, [SDS] nominated as Minister of Education, 
is the President of the SDS Council and a professor of 
Sociology at Maribor University.  He supports the idea of 
Bible study as an optional subject in primary school. 
 
-- Mr. Dragutin Mate, [SDS] nominated as the Minister of 
Interior proposed by SDS, Interior is employed in the 
Ministry of Defense as Director of the Direction Directorate 
for Defense.  He became known to  the public as a the 
Slovene Defense Attach in Sarajevo [from 1996 to 1999] 
where he was reportedly collecting information on Slovene 
Ambassador Mirosic's private life. and thus   He was 
recalled early back from his posting earlier.  HeMate was 
also testifyiedng in front of the Parliamentaryian 
Commission on pPost-independence wWeapons tTrade. 
 
-- Ms. Marija Lukacic, nominated for Minister of 
Agriculture, Forestry and Food and proposed by SDS (though 
not a party member), was the former Director of the Fund of 
Agricultural Land and Forests [1994 - 1999] where she was 
not very successful.  In 2000 she was nominated for the 
Director of the Office for Denationalization and in 2001 she 
returned to the Ministry of Agriculture to head the Office 
for Natural Disasters. 
 
 
-- Dr. Andrej Bajuk,[Nsi] nominated as Minister of Finance, 
is the president of NSi and a former prime minister 
[transitional government in 2000].  Bajuk worked for the 
Interamerican Development Bank in various positions from 
1977-2000.  He strongly supports privatization in Slovenia, 
especially of banks, however he has said indicated that the 
banks should stay in Slovene hands. 
 
-- Dr. Lovro Sturm, [Nsi] nominated as Minister of Justice, 
 
is a professor of law at Ljubljana University.  He is a 
former Constitutional Court Judge and was Minister of 
Education in 2000 during Bajuk's transitional government. 
He is the author of the draft Law on Religious Communities 
and Head of the Institute for the Law of Human Rights. 
 
-- Mr. Janez Drobnic [NSi], nominated as Minister of Labor, 
Family and Social Affairs, was the former head of the NSi 
Deputy group in parliament.  Before being elected MP in 
2000, he was employed in the Ministry of Labor as an 
advisor.  He strongly opposed the LDS initiative to legalize 
bio-medical help in insemination of single women and also 
the Law on Decriminalization of Prostitution. 
 
-- Dr. Jure Zupan [NSi], nominated as Minister of Higher 
Education, Science and Technology, is a top Slovene 
scientist, specializinged in chemistry and informatics.  He 
initiated the idea of splitting the ministry of Education 
into two ministries. 
 
-- Mr. Janez Podobnik [SLS], nominated for Minister of 
Environment and Spatial Planning, is president of SLS and 
former president of the National Assembly ([1996 - 2000)]. 
Recently, he was involved in the incident on the Slovene - 
Croatian border where he was roughly arrested by the 
Croatian police for refusing to show his identity card. 
 
-- Mr. Janez Bozic [SLS], nominated as the Minister of 
Transport, is currently the President of the Direction for 
Highways of the Republic of Slovenia (DARS). 
 
-- Mr. Karl Erjavec [DeSUS], nominated as Minister of 
Defense, is currently a State Secretary at the Ministry of 
Justice.  He took his current position as a member of SLS in 
2000, when Ivo Bizjak [SLS] became the minister.(Grega - 
when/why did he switch parties?).  In April 2004 when SLS 
left the coalition, newly appointed MoJ Zdenka Cerar wanted 
him to stay in the position and so he leaft the party. 
After few months he joined DeSUS. 
 
-- Ms. Darinka Mravljak [SLS], nominated as Minister without 
portfolio in charge of Regional Development and Local Self- 
government, is a former Head of the Parliamentarian 
Commission for the Policy of Equal Opportunities. 
 
------------ 
CONFIRMATION 
------------ 
 
3.  (U) The next steps in establishing the GOS is as 
follows:are a few remaining steps before the government can 
be confirmed.  fFirst, the candidates will must have 
hearings in front ofwith the respective parliamentary 
committees within three to seven days after nomination. 
NextThen, the presidents of the committees give their 
opinions to the Prime Minister within 48 hours after the 
hearing.  He then has three days to replace any candidate if 
he pleases.  And finally, Ffollowing this timeline, the 
government might be confirmed by the parliament in an urgent 
session as early as Tuesday, November 30, but more likely, 
it will be be confirmed most likely confirmed on Thursday, 
December 2, 2004 during the regular parliamentary session. 
 
-------------- 
CODE OF ETHICS 
-------------- 
 
4.  (U) When Jansa was elected for the PMPrime Minister in 
the National Assembly, he stated he would demand thea Codex 
of Ethics offor the Government of Slovenia to be signed by 
each member of the government.  It is also a part of the 
coalition agreement.  The Code of Ethics basically talks 
aboutis based on  ffundamental values of human life and 
dignity, freedom, honesty, solidarity and patriotism.  The 
signatureSigning of the code will bind ministers morally and 
ethically to perform their functions according to the laws 
([not using professional information infor personal 
benefitsgain, refusinging of gifts, refusing privileges 
offered duesolely because of to their functionspositions, 
avoiding the conflicts of interest etc.s.)].  Should abuse 
of office come to light in a manner which would be damaging 
to the reputation or work of the Government, individuals In 
case of any of abuses of office that would harm the respect 
of GoS or the work of government, all signatories are 
obliged themselves to offer their resignations to the Prime 
Minister. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
5.  (U) COMMENT:  It is very likely Slovenia will gethave 
its new government by the end of next week [December 3]. 
The coalition holds 49 votes plus two representatives of 
minorities that usually stick with the coalition.  There are 
maybe two potentially controversial candidates for the 
ministers.  The Ffirst one is proposed (and former) FoMin 
Dimitrij Rupel who was dismissed from the ministerial 
positionas Foreign Minister in June 2004 for his active 
participatingon in the Assembly for the Republic, thatwhich 
joinedaligned itself with politicalcenter- right parties 
beforeprior to national elections.  In that regard he 
switched parties just before elections and thus got another 
chance to be the minister.As reported previously, Rupel 
quickly allied himself with Jansa and the SDS and has 
secured himself his old job in the new government.  His 
former party [LDS] will definitelycertainly oppose him in 
the Foreign Affairs Committee review and most likely the 
rest of the opposition [ZLSD and SNS] won't support him 
either will withhold support.  ButHowever, the fact is 
thatparliamentary committees only give advisory opinions on 
each candidates, thatwhich the Prime Minister is not 
obligatoryobliged to follow it. 
 
6. The second controversial and probablyperhaps even more 
problematic candidate facing confirmation is Dragutin Mate 
for the Minister of Interior.  He has been close to Jansa 
since Jansa became the Minister of Defense in 1990.  During 
Mate's employment in the Ministry of Defense     ([Defense 
Intelligence Office, Personnel Office) and as the Defense 
Attach in Sarajevo he gotwas involved in several affairs 
that might be reopened during his hearing in the Committee 
for the Defense hearing.  In preparation for Mate's hearing, 
Ssome LDS deputies alreadyhave demanded from the president 
of the National Assembly to providethe reports of the 
Commission ([fromin the previous composition of the 
parliament)] that investigated the weapons tradeing during 
the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so they can prepare for 
the hearing. 
 
7.  The two mentionedRupel and Mate are likely the only two 
candidates thatwho will face intense questioning would sweat 
the most during their the hearings.  At but at the end of 
the day, however, the parliament votes on the teamentire 
slate of ministers as a whole package.   and iWith only 46 
votes needed for confirmation of the team, Jansa's 
coalition, which controls 49 votes, is expected to approve 
the proposed cabinet.t is expected the coalition will 
support it.  They only need 46 votes and that has been 
already assured.  END COMMENT. 
 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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