US embassy cable - 04LJUBLJANA1071

UNCLAS  LJUBLJANA 001071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, ECON, SI 
SUBJECT: JANSA SELECTS HIS CABINET 
 
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 (1997-2000), 
and Mayor of Ljubljana (1995-1997).  He was dismissed as 
FoMin just before national elections in June of 2004.  He 
then left the Liberal Democratic Party to join Slovene 
Democratic Party deputy group and run for Parliament.  He 
was also one of the 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 Philosophy Faculty 
at the University of Ljubljana.  He 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 Minister of 
Interior is employed in the Ministry of Defense as Director 
of the Directorate for Defense.  He became known to the 
public as the Slovene Defense Attach in Sarajevo [from 1996 
to 1999] where he was reportedly collecting information on 
Slovene Ambassador Mirosic's private life.  He was recalled 
early from his posting.  Mate also testified in front of the 
Parliamentary Commission on post-independence weapons trade. 
 
-- 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 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, specializing 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.  In April 
2004 when SLS left the coalition, newly appointed MoJ Zdenka 
Cerar wanted him to stay in the position and so he left 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 are a few remaining steps before the government 
can be confirmed.  First, the candidates must have hearings 
with the respective parliamentary committees within three to 
seven days after nomination.  Then, 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, following 
this timeline, the government will be confirmed most likely 
on Thursday, December 2, 2004 during the regular 
parliamentary session. 
 
-------------- 
CODE OF ETHICS 
-------------- 
 
4.  (U) When Jansa was elected Prime Minister in the 
National Assembly, he stated he would demand a Code of 
Ethics for 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 is based on 
fundamental values of human life and dignity, freedom, 
honesty, solidarity and patriotism.  Signing the code will 
bind ministers morally and ethically to perform their 
functions according to the law (not using professional 
information for personal gain, refusing gifts, refusing 
privileges offered solely because of their positions, 
avoiding conflicts of interest etc.).  Should abuse of 
office come to light in a manner which would be damaging to 
the reputation or work of the Government, individuals  are 
obliged to offer their resignations to the Prime Minister. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
5.  It is very likely Slovenia will have 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 two potentially 
controversial candidates for minister.  The first is 
proposed (and former) FoMin Dimitrij Rupel who was dismissed 
as Foreign Minister in June 2004 for his active 
participation in the Assembly for the Republic, which 
aligned itself with center-right parties prior to national 
elections.  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 
certainly oppose him in the Foreign Affairs Committee review 
 
and most likely the rest of the opposition [ZLSD and SNS] 
will withhold support.  However, parliamentary committees 
only give advisory opinions on candidates, which the Prime 
Minister is not obliged to follow. 
 
6. The second controversial and perhaps even more 
problematic candidate facing confirmation is Dragutin Mate 
for 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 was involved in several affairs that might be 
reopened during his hearing.  In preparation for Mate's 
hearing, some LDS deputies have the reports of the 
Commission (in the previous parliament) that investigated 
weapons trade during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, . 
 
7.  Rupel and Mate are likely the only two candidates who 
will face intense questioning during their hearings.  At the 
end of the day, however, the parliament votes on the entire 
slate of ministers as a package.  With only 46 votes needed 
for confirmation of the team, Jansa's coalition, which 
controls 49 votes, is expected to approve the proposed 
cabinet. 
 
 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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