Reporter comments on political consequences of floods

Ljubljana, 21 August - The weekly Reporter comments on Monday on the effects the recent floods are having on Slovenia's politics, saying the unity displayed by the coalition and opposition will not last. At this moment neither side can afford to seem unconstructive, but this will not last long.

Even though everything is about unity, solidarity and cooperation at the moment, politicians on both sides of the isle have their own political agendas, and photos of politicians helping in the clean up are a part of this.

The paper says that New Slovenia (NSi) head Matej Tonin was an exception in this. He helped in the relief efforts as a volunteer firefighter and had not posted any photos. "Neither did many other people."

The wide-ranging devastation means that the reconstruction will take a long time. Likely it will extend beyond the incumbent government's term. And it will cost several billion euros.

As a rule, no major project in Slovenia was completed without problems and many complications can also be expected now, the magazine says under the headline What Went Wrong?

This will be a tough test for Prime Minister Robert Golob. Health reform has proven a tough nut and now the government is faced with a mega reconstruction effort.

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