A little discontent among the HDZ party membership over the new proposed ministerial appointments.
Thank you for everything. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister-designate has made a different decision – these are the words that HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko said to some of the candidates who had not been selected as ministers in the new Croatian government, reports Jutarnji List on January 22, 2016.
Yesterday morning before the meeting of the party Presidency, Karamarko held a meeting at HDZ headquarters with party general secretary Milijan Brkić and party political secretary Tomislav Čuljak. The meeting also included candidates whose names have long been mentioned as potential and even certain ministers – Tomislav Ćorić (finance), Damir Krstičević (defence), Damir Jelić (education), Dinko Čutura (culture), Božo Galić (regional development), Goran Pauk (tourism), Zvonko Milas (veterans affairs) and Goran Marić (finance).
The meeting did not last long. The party leadership was addressed by only two of the disappointed candidates – Milas and Krstičević. While Milas expressed his dissatisfaction with the selection of Mijo Crnoja as Veterans Affairs Minister saying that this could have been solved better and differently, Krstičević allegedly gave a long speech in which he described the work of the party committee for internal affairs and national security, which is chaired by him.
Krstičević was not ready to comment publicly on the meeting and the fact that he did not become a minister. “We did our best in the committee and prepared a program, but PM-designate and party president have decided differently. But, that is life. I will continue to work for the party and Croatia as I have worked so far”, said Krstičević.
However, some of the prominent members of the party say that in HDZ there is great dissatisfaction with the selection of ministers, and that they would not be surprised if some followed the lead of Ante Ćorušić, who was supposed to become Health Minister, and resigned from party committees. They claim that many of their colleagues were cheated.
“First, it is not true that the decision was made by Prime Minister-designate. We know that Orešković is mostly interested in finance and economy, and that he did not get involved in some ministries, especially when it comes to veterans, defence and culture. These decisions were made by Karamarko”, said a HDZ source. One of the party insiders believes that the greatest injustice was done to Ćorić and Krstičević, although others are in a similar situation as well.
“The party leadership have spoken about them as future ministers for almost a year. These people have done a great job for the party. Ćorić was used whenever the party needed something be done about financial issues. As for Krstičević, he has received a huge number of preferential votes in the elections, he has prepared a detailed program of activities and has tremendous support within the party. He is educated and has the best references to be Defence Minister, and this is how they treat him”, said a senior member of the party. He pointed out that many in HDZ were shocked with the choice of Mijo Crnoja as Veterans Affairs Minister and Zlatko Hasanbegović as Culture Minister.
Vice-chairman of HDZ party committee for culture Jure Zovko announced on Thursday that he had resigned from that position. “The reason is that the party leadership has not recognized the quality and expertise of the committee. It was also impolite that during the negotiations the party president never once called Anja Šovagović, who is the chairwoman of the committee, to consult with her about who would be a suitable candidate for Culture Minister. I point out that the HDZ culture committee unanimously suggested Anja Šovagović as minister”, wrote Zovko.
