STUFF : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website adstuff |jobstuff |propertystuff |cuisine |archivestuff |personalstuff |stuffonsaleAuck12șC Wgtn11șC Chch10șC STUFF>> WORLD NEWS>> STORY Friday, 06 August 2004 BREAKING NEWS NZ NEWSPAPERS NATIONAL NEWS WORLD NEWS SPORT BUSINESS WEATHER POLITICS HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ENTERTAINMENT ODDSTUFF RURAL INSIGHT TRAVEL SNOW REPORTS FOOD & WINE MOTORING CARTOON GALLERY PHOTO GALLERY TV LISTINGS CROSSWORDS HOROSCOPES COMPETITIONS NZ MAGAZINES SUBSCRIPTIONS YOUR SAY MAKE STUFF MY HOME ABOUT STUFF FEEDBACK © Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2004. All the material on this page has the protection of international copyright. All rights reserved SEARCH STUFF WEB HEADLINES ALERT W O R L D N E W S S T O R Y RELATED LINKS » Have your say » Subscribe to Archivestuff Slovenian parliament sacks foreign minister 06 July 2004 LJUBLJANA: Slovenia's parliament voted to sack Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, passing a vote of no confidence proposed by Prime Minister Anton Rop. Rupel, a member of Rop's centre-left Liberal Democrats (LDS), was forced out following accusations by other party members that he was flirting with the conservative opposition. "We talked a lot and tried to find some common points. I regret, but Dimitrij Rupel has decided to take a different path," Rop told parliament. The change is unlikely to cause a major shift in government policy though it may sour public support for the government ahead of a general election later this year. "The government appears a bit clumsy in handling this, as if they were putting out a fire. However, there is too little time ahead of the elections for anything to change," Milan Brglez, foreign policy analyst at Ljubljana University, said. Rop had asked Rupel to resign, but he refused. Under Slovenian law, parliament has to dismiss ministers and approve new ones nominated by the government. Rop said he had thought of asking parliament to dismiss Rupel several times before but had finally decided to do it "after the increasingly active engagement of minister Rupel in domestic politics over the last months." AdvertisementAdvertisementFifty of the 90 members of parliament, from LDS, and its junior coalition partners, the United List of Social Democrats and the Pensioners Party, voted to dismiss Rupel. Rop has proposed Ivo Vajgl, Slovenia's ambassador to Germany, as Rupel's replacement and parliament is expected to vote on his appointment on Tuesday (local time). This is the second reshuffle in Rop's cabinet in just three months and follows the replacement of five ministers in April. Slovenia is one of the 10 mostly eastern European countries that joined the European Union in May. »PRINTABLE VERSION »SUBSCRIBE TO FREE HEADLINES »SUBSCRIBE TO ARCHIVESTUFF TOP OF PAGE NZ Newspapers Waikato Times The Daily News Manawatu Standard The Dominion Post The Nelson Mail The Marlborough Express The Press The Timaru Herald The Southland Times Sunday Star Times Regional News Northland Auckland Bay of Plenty Hawke's Bay West Coast Otago W O R L D N E W S H E A D L I N E S At least 40 killed amid clashes in Yemen Car bomb near Baghdad kills five Helicopter crashes in Siberia, killing 15 Fiji Vice-President found guilty of coup charges Fierce clashes in Iraqi holy city of Najaf Aussie outback the test arena for designer suit for Mars Abu Ghraib guard was lousy soldier - prosecution Four Guantanamo detainees refuse to attend hearings Iraq groups deny militants behind church blasts Diana memorial fiasco angers Britons Solar system may be unique after all - astronomers 70 injured in Zimbabwe train crash Saudi to hold first elections in November - source Sudanese protest against threat of intervention China kindergarten janitor 'stabs children, teachers' Shanghai bans 'feudal' building names Malaysia says not sending troops to Iraq for now African Union may send 2000 troops to Darfur Jordanian hostages freed in Iraq