ZAGREB, August 5, 2019 – Dejan Kovač, an economist at Princeton University, on Sunday announced his candidacy for Croatia’s next president, saying that public procurement, pre-bankruptcy settlement procedures and government subsidies would be in the focus of his campaign.
Kovač’s candidacy was supported by the Croatian Social-Liberal Party (HSLS).
A member of the American Economic Association and the Royal Economic Society and the first Croat to work at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University, Kovac said his decision to announce his candidacy on the day when the 1995 military and police operation Storm, which liberated areas held by Croatian Serb rebels, was launched, was not accidental.
“It’s time Croatian politicians who have created problems stopped selling us the better past, it’s time we turned to the future. Those who have caused problems will certainly not solve them, they are interested solely in keeping the status quo and their posts,” Kovač said, adding that Operation Storm had shown that change required courage.
Twenty-four years after Operation Strom, patriotism should be demonstrated with work and competence rather than by holding one’s hand on the heart, said Kovač, who believes that he is the candidate of productive but quiet Croatians who work and fight honestly while being trampled on daily by those with political connections.
It is time the voice of that productive Croatia was heard loud and clear, he said, noting that was joining in the presidential race because he believed it was time citizens assumed responsibility and a more active role in society.
Public procurement, pre-bankruptcy settlement and subsidies will be in the focus of his campaign.
Pre-bankruptcy settlement proceedings reveal how poorly Croatia’s business and judicial systems are organised, he said, adding that Croatia was the only country that did not want to make public who received subsidies.
“Those are the three instruments for siphoning money from the state budget. That Gordian knot can be cut with one blow, and the sword is transparency through digitisation,” Kovač said.
More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.
