Zoran Milanović speaks about current events.
SDP president and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović talked today in Parliament with reporters about the latest events. Talking about the alleged dismissal of the chief of the Police Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime Mario Bertina, he said that the government had the right to dismiss and appoint officials, reports Večernji List on March 15, 2016.
“He is supposedly a friend of mine, and I cannot even remember his name. I have never seen him in my life. They can appoint whomever they want”, said Milanović. “That is their right, just like they can dismiss the Security Intelligence Agency director Lozančić, but I see that they cannot agree about that. I will not criticize them now, they should start working and governing the state. But, the state is much more than just police and secret services”, said Milanović.
Milanović said he was not concerned that the Veterans Affairs Minister had not been appointed. “I think that the veterans are protected and will be protected and that they are not threatened by anything. Therefore, it is not important who the Veterans Minister is. Perhaps they should merge the Ministry with another if they are unable to agree on who will be the new minister”, suggested Milanović. Asked what he thought about the possible HDZ candidate Tomislav Medved, Milanović answered that he “did not know who this gentleman was”.
He also commented on the level of discussion among the camps of two candidates for SDP president during the intraparty elections. “I see this as a very decent way of communication when compared to what is happening in the US election campaign”, said Milanović.
He commented on the budget proposal as well. “It is unfortunate that some people do not realize that this is the Croatian Parliament and not the branch of the European Commission or the rating agencies. I have openly said that the government has the same burdens which we had and they cannot use what happened before as an excuse because they were left with a very good situation, much better than four years ago”, concluded Milanović.
