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| - Slovenia's centre-left opposition filed a second no-confidence motion against conservative Prime Minister Janez Jansa's government Wednesday, after a first attempt last month fell foul of coronavirus-related absences among several MPs. The opposition accuses Jansa of exploiting the pandemic to transform the EU country into a more authoritarian state. "The current government and (Jansa) in particular... is leading our country down the path of autocratic democracy," Karl Erjavec, the leader of the opposition DESUS party, told journalists on Wednesday after filing the no-confidence motion backed by five parliamentary parties. Veteran politician Jansa, who has been in his latest stint as prime minister since March, is a close ally of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Jansa has mimicked Orban's hardline rhetoric on migration and has accused media outlets of spreading lies for criticising his handling of the pandemic. Erjavec filed the first no-confidence motion in January but withdrew it before the vote took place, arguing that the absence of at least two opposition MPs -- under quarantine due to contacts having coronavirus -- hampered its chances of success. Erjavec is being proposed as an alternative candidate for prime minister by the centre-left opposition parties who have proposed the no-confidence motion. To pass, it would need the backing of at least 46 MPs in the 90-seat parliament. Despite DESUS quitting the governing coalition in December, Jansa's alliance still claims it can rely on 47 votes in parliament. "The time has come for members of parliament to decide on whether they support an authoritarian democracy or an open democracy," Erjavec said. Since the vote is secret, the opposition hopes that some MPs from the Modern Centre Party (SMC), a junior partner in the current coalition, might join efforts to oust Jansa. Slovenia, an Alpine state of two million, has suffered more than 3,650 Covid-19-related deaths, among the highest mortality rates per capita in the EU. Jansa, who has said he is confident the motion will fail, tweeted on Tuesday that most high school students dealing with distance learning have shown "much more maturity than the provocateurs from the (opposition)". He also launched into a fresh attack on media he deems hostile to his government, the public RTV Slovenija and private Pop TV stations, branding them "irresponsible virus spreaders" for allegedly undermining the coronavirus response. bk/jsk/kjl
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