The President of the Republic, Mr Milan Kucan, received the president of the Democratic Pensioners’ Party of Slovenia, Mr Janko Kusar, today, handing him his reply to an open letter from the municipal and regional organization of DeSUS Ljubljana.

In his reply, President Kucan stated:

"In an open letter addressed to myself, the municipal and regional organization DeSUS Ljubljana invited me to take on the initiative for political association in view of the current political “disarray”, as they wrote. The programme platform is to be based on the findings and proposals stemming from my public appearances, where, in my critical approach to the current functioning of the state and to the inadequate legal safety of our citizens, I supported a Slovenia that is development-oriented, socially just and democratic. The letter also refers to presumed public expectations for me to found ‘my own’ political party.

As you yourself and the public at large know, I was elected President of the Republic, for both of my terms in office, as a candidate of a list of citizens, not as a candidate of any political party. I am resolved to complete my work in this second term in office as a president of all our citizens, carrying this function for the benefit of those who voted for me as well as for those who did not. That is why I do not wish to attach myself to any political party. All my public appearances and all of my activities as President of the Republic have a firm foundation in the plebiscite for an independent Slovenia, a common decision of all of Slovenia, and in our pledges made upon independence. Looking back almost ten years, I remain equally convinced, as I was then, that in deciding in favour of an independent state at the plebiscite, the citizens demanded and expected far more than just an end to the centralist-hegemonic, socialist Yugoslav federation. That is also my experience from the many discussions I held with people who care about our country and its future. The citizens of Slovenia voted in favour of freedom, democracy, rectification of injustices without causing new ones, in favour of the right to be different and of tolerance towards the different, in favour of political competition, not political hatred, in favour of the future and of respect for the good that stems from our long past, in favour of a respectful attitude to the heritage of freedom of the national liberation war, in favour of condemning post-war summary executions and of respect for the dead, in favour of giving way to the best and in favour of social welfare, in favour of Slovenehood and cosmopolitanism, in favour of good schools accessible to all, ensuring young people a future, in favour of an open Slovenian market and fruitful relations with neighbouring nations and states, in favour of accession to the European Union and other Euro-Atlantic organizations. The plebiscite concentrated all Slovenian energy, humanizing it again. Everyone was invited to take part in working for the common good, regardless of where unkind fate had led them to in the past.

That is also my view of Slovenia, of life in this country. I have been striving for such a country for many years, ever since I came to know and stood convinced that a free individual and an independent nation who are open to the world are the basis for man’s existence and success in a global world. I am bound to this, this is my debt to all citizens, to the energy and knowledge of people who want to create a kind, common future. My obligation towards the messages of the plebiscite in favour of an independent Slovenia therefore also requires of me to support any positive political will that wishes to make these messages a reality. There are political parties expressing such a will. Besides the current parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties, or perhaps even contrary to the positions and actions of some of these parties, such will is also expressed by numerous institutions and civil society movements, groups of Slovenian intellectuals, the business community, authors, and numerous individuals who turn to the Office of the President and to myself personally. Lately, these initiatives express a particular dissatisfaction with frequent emergences of intolerance of any sort, party conceitedness, transformation of political competition into hateful, even personal vendetta, falsification of World War II events, abuse of institutions of the political and parliamentary system, social egoism, unemployment, as well as corruption and indifference to social poverty and to people in need.

This year is an election year. Citizens will again decide between political parties and their candidates for parliament who will constitute Slovenia’s supreme legislative body for the next four years. Because of a consistently implemented parliamentary system this institution has great impact on life in our country and therefore carries great responsibility. I am convinced that the election race will see the participation of political parties and other initiatives whose election programmes and personalities will guarantee the meeting of voters’ expectations that Slovenia in the 21st century will truly become a reputable and self-confident country of social justice, the rule of human rights, of legal and any other safety for its citizens, a country that is economically successful and politically stable, a country that will thus be able to become a full member of the European Union and of other European security, economic and social structures. Only thus can its national identity become recognized and established in a new, globalised world. Herein lies the primary responsibility of the current generation of political managers of our country, a responsibility that mustn’t be handed down to the coming generations light-heartedly.

I shall publicly and actively support, within the framework of my constitutional competences as President of the Republic, all such endeavours and activities, election programmes and candidates. I shall invest every effort in reaffirming and further establishing the values from the time of Slovenia’s independence. I shall support endeavours for bringing together all wills that are prepared to build their programmes on these values. The decision as to the candidates and party programmes is up to the voters. I am convinced that, according the work of political parties to date as well as according to their programmes, they will recognize and support those whose values and desires are closest to those expressed in the plebiscite and other acts of independence, those who are tolerant, integrative and open to cooperation for the benefit of all people in our country.”