ZAGREB, October 29, 2019 – It would be best for Croatia if presidential and parliamentary elections were held on the same day, the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) said at a press conference on Tuesday, calling on all progressive forces in the country to form an anti-corruption alliance.
The press conference was prompted by the discovery that Inspector-General Andrija Mikulić had failed to declare in his declaration of assets close to 700 square metres of his property on the northern Adriatic island of Krk. Earlier in the day Mikulić said this was an unintentional mistake and that he had launched a procedure to correct it.
SDP MP Gordan Maras called the situation unbelievable, advising all business people to do the same as Mikulić when visited by inspectors and apologise for any irregularities.
“It is precisely because of things like this that the SDP has moved to form a broad anti-corruption alliance of all progressive forces in society, which would involve as many political parties as possible as well as civil society and individuals,” MP Željko Jovanović said.
Speaking of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Jovanović said that her image was disastrous, describing her election campaign “as a totally confused campaign of a lost woman whom people, and especially those in Rijeka and the surrounding area, are increasingly ashamed of.”
“People are simply disgusted by all these things that are going on around the HDZ and their presidential candidate. People can’t watch corruption any more eating away young people’s future and robbing elderly people of their dignity,” Jovanović said.
The SDP has prepared a string of bills that will be sent to Parliament and the first one will be the bill on the origin of property because people have the right to know how someone has come into possession of their property, the SDP lawmaker said.
“We want the Tax Administration to be proactive rather than passive. The Tax Administration, together with the Money Laundering Office, has the necessary tools to analyse all tax returns and find out if there are any discrepancies between the amount of property owned and the income of taxpayers, especially office holders, prominent political figures and everyone who took part in privatisation processes,” Jovanović said.
Responding to questions from the press, Maras ruled out a possibility of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the SDP forming a grand coalition. “That’s not an option,” he said.
More SDP news can be found in the Politics section.
