A return to Parliament for the former prime minister.
SDP president and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović returned today to the parliamentary benches as a Member of Parliament. He said he would appear in Parliament as often as necessary and will lead his parliamentary caucus the same way he has led the party. “During my first term as SDP president and leader of the opposition, I was frequently criticized for not speaking enough. However, in those four years I spoke more than three of my predecessors combined. I will be in Parliament as much as I need to be and I will lead the caucus they same way I have led the party, with clear vision and energy, which is very important. Sometimes, I might even bang my fist on the table”, said Milanović, reports Vecernji List on February 3, 2016.
“We will be a constructive opposition when it is in the national interest, but we will have no mercy because this government and this majority do not deserve any respect. We have seen that even now, in spite of the agreement to elect Vice-Speakers of the Parliament, they have voted against in large numbers. These people either do not know what was agreed or they do not know the basic norms of parliamentary behaviour. Former Ministers Milanka Opačić and Vesna Pusić were elected as Vice-Speakers, but not in a way they should have been, and that tells us a lot about human morality”, said Milanović.
At the beginning of today’s session of the Parliament, former members of the government were sworn in as Members of Parliament. The only minister who has won a new term in Parliament but has decided against being an MP is former Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović, who will continue his career in the private business sector.
Former members of the cabinet who today became Members of Parliament are: Administrative Affairs Minister Arsen Bauk, Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Branko Grčić, Transport Minister Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina, Deputy Foreign Minister Joško Klisović, Entrepreneurship Minister Gordan Maras, Veterans Affairs Minister Predrag Matić, Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, Justice Minister Orsat Miljenić, Construction Minister Anka Mrak Taritaš, Work and Pension System Minister Mirando Mrsić, Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić, Social Policy Minister Milanka Opačić, Interior Minister Ranko Ostojić, Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Tomislav Saucha, Health Minister Siniša Varga, Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak, and Environmental Protection Minister Mihael Zmajlović.
Milanka Opačić and Vesna Pusić were elected as Vice-Speakers of the Parliament (two Vice-Speakers usually come from the opposition). Opačić received 76 votes in favour, 3 abstentions and 15 against, while Pusić had 56 votes in favour, 5 abstentions and 33 against.
