Janša: The Slovenian Democratic Party is a Smart Solution for the Future

04.11.2011
Below you can read the speech of Janez Janša, director of the Slovenian Democratic Party, which was presented during today's convention (04.11.2011). The speech was given in Brdo pri Kranju, where the SDP presented its team and its new program for justice, new jobs and economic development.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

What has our country become?

The number of unemployed citizens is huge. We are borrowing 20 cents of each euro spent. The criminals are hiding in the court's drawers. We are regressing. Three years ago they offered us new faces, 1000€ of minimum salary and pensions. They promised everything and refused to cooperate with us and they gambled away everything. Now the same 'godfathers' are searching for new faces. We risk a lot. The upcoming elections are not just like any other elections.

Before the elections, every citizen will ask himself the same questions: Am I a part of the solution? Do I see myself within the power of capital, which claims that the country is like a company that needs a strong manager? Do I see myself in the circle that believes in the infinite power of bureaucracy, technology and centralism, which ensures that different procedures will solve everything?

We do not see a smart solution in either of the offers. In these difficult times, Slovenia needs a clear understanding of where our true strength lies.

The true strength of Slovenia is in the entrepreneur, who is dealing with the crisis, credit crunch and bureaucracy; who insists, despite the difficulties, and makes progress anyway; who provides work to himself and to many other people.

Our strength lies in the pride and dignity of the worker, who prefers to work for minimal wage, instead  of receiving the same amount of money from social support.

Our strength lies in teachers and pupils, the professors and students who are aware that the sovereignty of a human is in knowledge.

The strength of Slovenia is our doctors, scientists, engineers and researchers who achieve superior results while receiving modest salaries.

The strength of Slovenia is in our excellent artists and athletes that put the Slovenian national colors and the Slovenian anthem side by side to big countries and provide positive visibility necessary to the country on the global stage.

The strength of Slovenia is in our compatriots abroad and around the world who bear Slovenia in the heart far away from their home country, and who are part of us more than we are usually aware of.

Our strength is in the daily efforts of mothers, wives, housewives, who are trying to survive until the end of the month with a 20% deficit in the family budget.

Our strength is the farmer who works from morning until night, and maintains the population in areas where life is really hard.

The strength of Slovenia is in our creativity, culture and the Slovenian language which is able to resonate more strongly, as it currently does.

Our strength is in every pensioner who helps his children and grandchildren through life regardless of the modest pension he receives. The generation of pensioners was the biggest shock absorber of the economic crisis in the last three years and it is extremely unfair that today many of them are treated as an expense.

The strength of Slovenia is in Slovenian families that create and protect our only true and worthy future.

Our strength is in the old Slovenian proverb that says that a given word is valid and in all people who respect it. Such people are still numerous despite the moral crisis and that is why Slovenia will never become Greece.

The real strength of Slovenia is in each of us. Together we are a whole and the color of Slovenia has 2 million different shades. The formula for our solution is the ability to detect and allow them to establish themselves; that everybody is given the chance; that the latter is equal at least at the outset, regardless of whether you were born in Ljubljana or in Goričko; that justice is the same for all; and that good is rewarded and bad changes to good.

Also, every candidate and every party that takes part in these elections has to ask themselves the question whether they are a part of a solution or a part of a future problem. For the Slovenian Democratic Party we can say that:

  1. It was a part of the solution while building Slovenian democracy and during the fight for its independence;
  2. It  was a part of the solution while supporting the efforts to join the EU and NATO as a party in the opposition;
  3. It was a part of the solution, while leading the government, increasing the welfare, and while leading Slovenia into the Euro zone;
  4. It was a part of the solution, while Slovenia of 2 million people was leading the EU of 500 million people;
  5. It was a part of the solution in times of crisis when it offered cooperation to the government and proposed over 100 anti-crisis measures as a party in the opposition. 
There is a strategic difference between our program of 10 + 100 for justice, jobs and development, and the programs of our competition.  The competition has written programs for the elections overnight.

The SDP has a program and concrete measures that have been set up over two years. They are written for the period after the elections, when the problems will have to be solved. We respect each good proposal and every good candidate standing behind it. But at the same time, we question ourselves whether everyone really knows what awaits us next year?

At this moment, the SDP is the only political force in the country that is really well prepared for the time after the elections, in programmatic, operational and professional terms, with the necessary experiences and fresh energy.

We have the best list of candidates so far; 30,000 members and currently over 300,000 voters, which were never disappointed by us.

Since 1994, the SDP received more and more support in the elections. We have great international support and above all, in the SDP we are not naive anymore.

We situated Slovenia on the European map.

We were there from the very beginning of our independent life, determined at the time of great challenges. Slovenia will succeed again. The SDP is a smart solution for the future.

Thank you.