Justice minister faces vote of no confidence following ‘scandalous’ building purchase

Slovenian Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan faces a vote of no confidence following the disclosure of a botched purchase of a building in Ljubljana that was meant to house several lower-court departments.

The move by the Democrats, the largest opposition party, came after it was revealed that the ministry did not commission its appraisal for the €7.7 million purchase but went along with the one provided by the seller.

“The purchase is scandalous; the building has been overpaid by an incredible €6 million at taxpayer expense,” said Democrat MP Dejan Kaloh on Wednesday.

The seller, a well-known and politically well-connected businessman bought the badly dilapidated building from a bankruptcy estate for €1.7 million in 2019 after it had been appraised in 2017 at €2.9 million.

Švarc Pipan has said she would not comment until the Democrats laid out their arguments in full.

In response, Kaloh said the motion will contain “arguments solid enough to show that the justice minister is not fit for the job and should go”.

The purchase is already being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation, the arm of the police dealing with the most serious cases of white-collar crime.

The opposition frequently resorts to no-confidence motions, but it has very rarely managed to oust a minister.

However, the development comes at a difficult time for Golob, who completed a government reshuffle just last week after he sacked two ministers and one resigned amidst a scandal involving public funding for NGOs.

And while the government has been preoccupied with staffing, doctors have gone on strike over its failure to honour past commitments and judges are staging a two-week protest demanding better pay.

Both industrial actions threaten to derail a long-delayed reform of the sprawling public sector pay system and could sap the government’s energy as it embarks on reforming taxes and pensions.

(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)