You can fool some people all of the time
or you can fool all people some of the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all of the time,
says an old American proverb.
It appears you can fool most of the people in Slovenia all of the time.
For, how else would you explain the results of the November 2000 Parliamentary elections where the parties of former communists received the strongest mandate since the fall of communism in 1990?
Slovenian media is so well controlled, that when disaster happens, people will not even know what hit them. Read Charlotte Tafts column (Slovenian leading magazine MAG, March 7, 2001) SPEAKING ABOUT IMPORTANT THINGS
How did it come to this?
At present, Slovenia is still governed by former communists and their political successors. Its president, Milan Kucan, is the former general secretary of the communist party. All key government posts are held by former communists, many of the communist laws are still in effect, communist attitudes and practices are ubiquitous in the government administration and most of the country's economic resources are controlled by communists. Most of Slovenia's judiciary is subservient to the government, the courts act arbitrarily, they do not resolve pending matters within a reasonable time and give preferential treatment based on the party's political orientation.
In 1946, communists took virtually all the real and business property in the country. To this day they returned just a small fraction of it to the owners or their heirs under pretext of full compensation. Marxist state economy, camouflaged as a market economy, is perpetuated in this way: the government returns mostly buildings in severe need of repairs or similar non-performing assets. For the properties which disappeared over the five decades or cannot be returned, the owners receive unsecured bonds. Typically, this applies to all the best real estate, which is usually appraised below ten percent of its current market value. Thus, the Ruling class was able to "buy" some of the best real estate.
This method of restitution enabled the ruling Left, led mostly by former communists, to return to power after a brief pause in 1991-92. It was easy to win elections ... having kept all the wealth. In May 2000, due to a vote of no confidence in the Parliament, a Center-Right coalition, led by U.S.-educated Dr. Andre Bajuk, took over the reins. But only for a few months... In December 2000, the Left parties returned to power, after trouncing the opposition in "free elections", outspending it 10 to 1. It was easy to win elections ... having half of Slovenian population on the dole.
A quick overview of Communist Rule