Former President Stjepan Mesić says the decision marks the victory for revisionists of fascism.
Constitutional Court did not accept the proposal of former President Stjepan Mesić to institute proceedings to review the constitutionality of amendments to the Law on Special Rights of Presidents after the Termination of Term of Office, reports tprotal.hr on December 20, 2016.
The disputed amendments entered into force on 31 May 2016, which meant that Stjepan Mesić, as a former President of the Republic of Croatia, lost his right to have a government-paid office (and related rights). The Constitutional Court found that the institution of former President is not a constitutional category and that Parliament has the right to decide whether and how to regulate the rights of former presidents. Therefore, Parliament can recognize certain special rights of former presidents, but can also limit or completely abolish them, said president of the Constitutional Court Miroslav Šeparović.
Former President Mesić commented on the Constitutional Court’s decision. “The decision has ignored my complaint about retroactive application of the law, but that is no surprise. It shows that, unfortunately, Croatia is still far from being a country of the rule of law. That will be clear to the citizens of Croatia, as well as to the international community”, said former President Stjepan Mesić.
“The decision is undoubtedly victory not only for the current government, and the main party of the ruling coalition, but also for all those who persistently destroy the policies which I implemented for a decade, on behalf of the state and all its citizens, and keeping in mind the need for normalization and stabilization of the whole region. This is a victory for advocates of historical revisionism, revitalization of fascism and its ideological principles, preachers of hate and intolerance, and all those who are aggressively paving the road that will lead Croatia to the past, to the darkest period of its history”, said former President Mesić.
He added that, despite the abolition of the office, he was still at service of everyone in Croatia. “While I the decision to abolish the office will significantly hamper my activities in the public arena, I want to stress that I remain at service of anyone in Croatia who is fighting for true democracy and against widespread fascization. I will, therefore, still be present on the Croatian, but also on the international political scene. And to those who stand behind the decision of the Constitutional Court, I am pleased to leave the building of my office in Grškovićeva Street” said former President Stjepan Mesić, concluding, “They have said themselves everything that needed to be told. There is no need for me to add anything.”
