Disagreements between the PM and his First Deputy
“Milijan Brkić is the only HDZ candidate for the Minister of Veterans Affairs. We insist on him and he is the only one whom we will support and vote for. We respect all other candidates, they are all our friends, but Milijan Brkić and HDZ deserve this post”, said HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko yesterday evening. He added that it was true that the selection of the new minister was taking too long, reports Večernji List on March 11, 2016.
Karamarko commented on the invitation by Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković to veterans associations to propose their own candidates. “Maybe it was a mistake, maybe the prime minister talked about veterans who are members of HDZ”, said Karamarko and added that he was confident everything would be resolved soon.
At almost the same time, Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković gave an interview to Croatian Radio Television where he commented on the selection of the veterans minister and relations within the government.
Asked whether he was obstructing the selection of HDZ secretary general Milijan Brkić as the new minister of veterans affairs, Orešković said he would not call it like that, and that the choice of a minister was a process. “In a democracy, it is very important that we have several candidates so that we can then choose the one who is the best for any given ministry”, said Orešković, adding that the name of the new minister would be known in a few days.
Talking about relations within the government, the prime minister said that there was an open dialogue among people in which everyone could express their own opinion. “We have common goals and I believe that we will implement the reforms that we have jointly defined and proposed”, concluded Orešković.
