Unknown visitors at the Croatian election endgame.
On Friday evening, while leaders of the three main political sides in Croatia were involved in important negotiations about forming a tripartite government, they did not realize that among them there was an uninvited guest. Retired electrical engineer Žarko Kasum managed to enter the MOST headquarters and witness the trilateral meeting without anyone noticing him, reports 24Sata on December 20, 2015.
For almost an hour, no one realized that there was a stowaway on a “ship” which should lead Croatia towards the better future. “The motive for my diversion was to point out how dangerous the idea of tripartite government is, since it would be a distortion of democracy”, Kasum said. “With my act, I wanted to draw attention to the circus that we as citizens have been witnessing”, said Kasum, who was first noticed by journalists when he appeared in front of the MOST headquarters in order to respond to a satirical job announcement and offered himself for the post of prime minister. After he gave a statement to journalists in front of the building, he proceeded inside to join the meeting.
He walked inside, passed the security unnoticed and sat down. “The meeting was held in a very casual atmosphere and without any drama. It seems to me that I was the most excited person there. After Božo Petrov gave his proposal to party leaders, I asked for my copy. Zoran Milanović read the document and said that he cannot agree to any decision without the rest of his party. Then he asked, ‘What do you say, Tomica?’ Tomislav Karamarko agreed that he also could not accept it immediately.
He was discovered during a short break in the meeting, when all sides discussed among themselves the proposed document, since there was no group he could join. “At this point, there was a slight confusion, and then I was discovered. I told them who I was and that I came to apply for the post of prime minister”, Kasum said.
Security officers then took him to another room and asked him for his identity card. “Before I even managed to take out my ID card, Prime Minister Milanović appeared and came to see me. He asked me if I wanted to leave the meeting. After I said yes, they let me go without a problem”, Kasum concluded. Who knows, if he stayed there a little bit longer, perhaps Croatia would have a non-partisan expert prime minister after all.
http://www.24sata.hr/politika/prosvercao-se-na-pregovore-sjedio-sam-i-kimao-glavom-452803
Asked whether his departure from the post of prime minister would be followed by his departure from the post of SDP party president, and whether he expects any “earthquakes” within his party, Zoran Milanović responded: “There are earthquakes all the time in SDP, just like in California or Japan, but it is beautiful there, reports Novilist on December 20, 2015.
Novi List spoke last night with some high-ranking members of SDP, and it appears that Milanović has no reason to fear, since their conclusion is that, after the elections and during the negotiations, he managed to do everything that could possibly be done.
At a meeting with MOST, Milanović allegedly wanted to know who and how had been pressuring people from MOST on behalf of his party and asked them individually to tell him. Reportedly, there weren’t too many complaints by MOST representatives.
SDP held a meeting of the party presidency yesterday afternoon, ahead of the resumption of negotiations with MOST. One of the members, Zlatko Komadina, said later to journalists that a majority voted to support Milanović’s proposal to agree to a tripartite agreement on forming a government.
However, it seems that Milanović’s proposal did not pass smoothly, just like his reversal a few days ago with respect to the possibility of tripartite government. Three members of the Presidency – Zlatko Komadina, Rajko Ostojić and Davor Bernardić – as well as the chairman of the Main Committee Josip Leko, said that such major decisions cannot be made without the Main Committee.
Komadina reportedly said they should convene an urgent meeting of the Main Committee within 24 hours, Rajko Ostojić suggested to launch a poll among party members, while Leko talked about how the decisions being made are contrary to the conclusions of the Main Committee. Komadina reportedly said that he would in any case be against the tripartite agreement because it would include HDZ. “MOST yes, certainly, but not HDZ”, Komadina said.
