Constitutional law expert Miro Cerar, who has been handled as a possible candidate for the PM of a potential new centre-left government, said on Wednesday he was not ready to stand for PM-designate for the time being, as the idea of a "project government" was lacking sufficient support.
Cerar, whose name emerged in the search of several parties for a PM-designate needed as part of a no-confidence vote against the government of PM Janez Janša, met today Alenka Bratušek, the interim leader of Positive Slovenia (PS).
Coming out of the talks with the largest opposition party, he said he was a supporter of the idea to form a new, project-oriented government, but that the needed support among parliamentary parties was missing.
Elaborating on the "project government", he said it would entail a bipartisan approach to key projects and could be a solution for "the transitional period, which is very difficult".
His estimate that support is insufficient is based on the People's Party's (SLS) unequivocal announcement that it would not participate in such a government, on "the reservations of some senior members of the Citizens' List (DL) about a technical or any kind of PM-designate", but also on the failure of the SocDems to take a clear position.
Cerar, who is not a member of any party, urged political players to lend an ear to the grievances of an ever more active civil society and to "finally recognise that this crisis is a consequence of excessive polarisation in the political arena, a too strong ideological divide, party clashes, and that people and the country will not be able to endure any of this much longer".
If the vital issues are not defined and solved "to the benefit of everyone...then the problems will keep repeating and only get worse", he added.
Bratušek said that she had felt after meetings with heads of parties that Cerar could get sufficient support and that the PS wished to present him "not as the candidate of the PS but of all the parties of a new project coalition".
She added that the PS had done all that was in its power and that it was presently impossible to find a candidate who enjoyed more credibility than Cerar. "Those who are opposing such a solution, will simply need to say how to move forward."
Support for Cerar had been indicated on Tuesday by the PS, the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the DL. The SocDems said they were waiting for Cerar to confirm his candidacy before disclosing their position, while the SLS announced it would not participate in a new government.
All of the parties mentioned are or will soon be part of the opposition in parliament, as the ruling coalition is falling apart in the wake of a damning graft report against Janša of the Democrats (SDS).
Source: Sloveniatimes
