The Constitutional Court has decided to temporarily return Janez Janša his MP status. Jože Tanko from the opposition SDS is of the opinion that Janša's struggle shows the miserable state Slovenian politics is in. National Assembly Speaker Milan Brglez: My first responsibility is to my voters.

"The decision to revoke Janša's mandate will go down in the history of Slovenian politics as the most despicable act ever," is what Tanko told the press. He also added to say that not one institution raised its voice to oppose the process against Janša.

"Not even the country's president, not even the human rights ombudsman, not even the Speaker of the National Assembly," Tanko said. According to him the torture of Janša and his family shows the miserable state Slovenian politics is in.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Milan Brglez, also responded to the decision of the Constitutional Court. "My first responsibility is to my voters," commented Brglez to the press. He added that the decision, whether Janša would also become a member of the parliamentary commission for the supervision of the country's intelligence and security services, would be brought by the National Assembly.

Pending the court’s final decision the Constitutional Court wrote on its website that "the decision of the National Assembly will be revoked… for the complainant to be able to perform his duties as an MP in the National Assembly". The court also added that it would initiate a constitutional review of the entire Deputies Act.

The United Left: When will this farce end?
The United Left also responded with a short public statement. "The new National Assembly was filled with new faces promising a change in politics. But for four months now, from its very first session, it has been dealing with only one single person - Janez Janša ... It seems that the Constitutional Court has decided to follow the example of the National Assembly and prolong this agony. Today the Constitutional Court did not decide on Janša mandate itself, but has decided to judge the constitutionality of the Deputies Act. Considering the present pace at which decision are being made, we will sooner serve out our mandates than wait to see the epilogue of this farce."

Parliament law experts warned about the contentiousness of the decision
As it is well known Janez Janša's mandate was revoked after he was sentenced to two years in prison in the Patria case. MPs decided not to support a resolution allowing Janša to continue performing his duties as MP, despite the prison sentence. That is why he was stripped of his mandate. In making their decision, MPs mostly followed the interpretations of groups of outside lawyers and not the interpretations from the parliament's own legislative and legal service.

The decision to strip Janša of his MP status therefore raised a lot of dust. The opposition New Slovenia party announced that it would hold the leadership of the National Assembly accountable if Janša's mandate were to be restored by the Constitution Court. The National Assembly is still chaired by Milan Brglez. Last night's attempt by the opossition SDS to oust Mr. Brglez was not successful.

Translated by K. J.