Dismissal of intelligence chief Dragan Lozančić causing more disagreement within the ruling coalition.
After MPs from MOST on Friday supported former Interior Minister Ranko Ostojić (SDP) to become the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Interior Affairs and National Security, despite the fact that the rest of HDZ’s coalition voted against him, MOST now opposes HDZ’s demands with regards to another two issues, reports Index.hr and Vecernji List on February 14, 2016.
MOST leader and Deputy Prime Minister Božo Petrov has already said that he saw no reason for the dismissal of Security Intelligence Agency Director Dragan Lozančić, which was confirmed in the Parliament by MOST’s MP Ines Strenja Linić. “MOST does not support his dismissal without a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Interior Affairs and National Security. We believe Lozančić should be called to appear in front of the Committee, so we can see what he is being charged for”, said Strenja Linić.
HDZ president and First Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko said yesterday that there will be a lot of investigations in the Security Intelligence Agency because there are indications of irregularities, and added that the time will tell how Lozančić violated the law. He stressed that he did not agree with his colleagues from MOST, who believe that the Parliamentary Committee should discuss the issue before Lozančić’s dismissal is signed by Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković.
“President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović has said she no longer had confidence in Mr. Lozančić and that is the end of the story. We expect a confirmation of the dismissal in the next few days. The Prime Minister has taken the time to study the entire case, which is a legitimate thing to do”, said Karamarko.
Another issue which is creating a rift between HDZ and MOST is the topic of lustration. Although the law on lustration was proposed in the parliament as many as three times in earlier years, Croatia has never formally adopted it. Maybe that is the reason why the issue of lustration is being mentioned more often since the Patriotic Coalition came to power. They have talked about such a law while they were still in opposition. “Lustration is not a hunt on certain people, but a change in social climate and a commitment to the truth. It is our decision that we do not want anything to do with the values from before the 1990s”, said Karamarko just the other day.
Željko Glasnović (HDZ) believes that the biggest Croatian problem today is the mental legacy of communism. “A few days ago there was a meeting between Karamarko and the war veterans and we have all agreed, including Karamarko, that the profound changes in the institutions are necessary. The first step is a comprehensive lustration, which must first be carried out within HDZ, and then in all Croatian institutions”, said Glasnović.
However, it seems that MOST does not share HDZ’s fervour for lustration. “We are ready to listen to the proposal of our partners, but at this point I think that citizens are more interested in topics of economic growth, reduction of public debt and stimulating entrepreneurship. I am tired of dealing with the past”, said Miroslav Šimić, an MP from MOST.
It seems that lustration will remain another issue which will continue to deepen the growing gap between the coalition partners, but also the ideological divisions in the already polarized Croatian society.
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