The Scars of the Erasure_web

Erasure_4a 10.1.11 20:29 Page 1010 THE SCARS OF THE ERASUREthe first by the Minister of the Interior, Katarina Kresal, on 18 November 2008in the National Assembly before the vote on her appointment, in which she highlightedthe settling of the status of erased people as one of the priorities duringher term in office; second, her speech on 1 April 2009 in response to the interpellationconcerning supplementary decisions issued to the erased people inaccordance with the Constitutional Court ruling; and, finally, the speech by PrimeMinister Borut Pahor on the same occasion.Public opinion surveys, too, indicate changes in the public attitude towardsthe erased people. In 2003, fifty percent of respondents gave an affirmativeanswer to the question: “Is the government obliged to observe the ConstitutionalCourt ruling on the erased people?” In 2004, this percentage dropped to46 percent; in 2006 it rose to 49 percent, further increasing to 55 percent in2007 and reaching 71 percent in 2009. 4 The public opinion survey conductedin December 2008 by Ninamedia 5 agency as part of the Peace Institute projectshowed that nearly 86 percent of respondents thought that the ConstitutionalCourt rulings should be unconditionally respected, while 71 percent thoughtthat they should be respected in the case of the erased people, as well. Giventhat the opponents of the settling of this issue have repeatedly demanded areferendum concerning the rights of the erased people, one important findingof the Ninamedia survey is that almost 70 percent of respondents thought thatit was not possible to decide on human rights by a referendum, and 72 percentof them held that the rights of the erased people could not be decided by a re -ferendum either. Repeated calls for a referendum should therefore be understoodsolely as a political tool exploited to create an impression that society isopposed to settling this issue. During recent years, it was also possible to encounterthe viewpoint, both among the public and in politics, that the erasuredid not happen, but the findings of the survey show that this opinion is held byan insignificant minority – less then 3 percent of respondents. Stereotypesabout and prejudices against the erased people have been gradually dyingaway. This conclusion is based, among other things, on the fact that only slightlymore than one-third of respondents thought that the erased people were opponentsof sovereign Slovenia, while slightly less than 16 percent believed themto be national traitors. However, the more positive attitude on the part of boththe political elites and society is not enough to rectify the injustices and elucidatethe circumstances surrounding the erasure, including the responsibility ofthose who endorsed this measure. The crucial step that should be taken by societyis the establishment of an impartial investigation commission to officiallyexamine the implementation and consequences of the erasure and the possibilityof bringing to justice those responsible. Almost 76 percent of respondentsin the Ninamedia survey support the establishment of such a commission and4 The findings of the Politbarometer surveys conducted as part of the Slovenian Public Opinion surveys at the Facultyof Social Science are available at http://www.cjm.si/PB_rezultati (26 November 2009).5 The Public Attitude Towards the Erasure Issue, report on the telephone survey, Ninamedia, January 2009.