Pahor finally goes for the right thing

So, Borut Pahor, the President of the Social Democrats (SD), has finally made the choice that could cricially influence the outcome of the next parliamentary elections in Slovenia (coming up in autumn 2008). Following the party leadership advice, he will not stand for the President of the Republic, but rather lead the party at the next parliamentary elections.

Although it has taken a while to get this out and this hasn’t been the optimal choice for Pahor personally (he preferred standing for President and win). We’ll have to wait ad see what the SD’s strategy for the parliamentary elections will be in the end. It’s certainly a tougher nut to crack than it would have been to win the Presidential elections (support for Pahor was way above that for Peterle). Now the centre-left will have to find a suitable replacement for a guaranteed win. Difficult task, although some promising names already appeared, among those also the former Governor of the Central Bank – Mitja Gaspari.

But all in all, Pahor’s decision keeps the ratings of his party high. Putting aside his personal reflection on the matter (which might make him a bit unhappy…), this will also keep the grass-root of the party happy and the local SD councils. And what is even more interesting – all those that have been trying to get rid of Pahor (at the previous EP elections, in the contestation with another strongman Vlado Dimovski…) have finally asked him not to leave. Pragmatism obviously replaced ideological convictions on this side of the party. Which is good and is a recipe for a high result at the next elections.

In the meantime people should get ready to have Peterle as President.

On the side: there has been an incredible amount of scandals recently in Slovenia. Some serious accusations of the government’s pressure on media came ou, but some even more serious intelligence services information were revealed. Certainly enough material for a longer post in the next days.