ZAGREB, November 19, 2018 – Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandroković on Monday gave a statement for the media on independent MP Željko Glasnović’s speech in the parliament earlier in the day in which he called journalists moral typhoid and AIDS sufferers, saying that every member of parliament was responsible for their statements and that it was up to the media to comment on them appropriately.
“I recently heard an MP calling you useful idiots. I think it would be good if you treated such MPs appropriately,” Jandroković told reporters.
Commenting on a reporter’s remark that he neither warned Glasnović nor stopped his speech, Jandroković said that he lets people speak what they want and warns MPs only if they refer to someone by name. “As for general debates, the best judgement is the one made by citizens and the media. You should simply treat such MPs the way they deserve,” he said.
“All kinds of things can be heard in the parliament. Any speech that is unacceptable is not welcome in the parliament,” Jadroković said, adding that there were excellent parliamentary debates and MPs who prepared for debates, as well as MPs who tried to attract attention the way Glasnović did. “Try to find a way not to give them publicity, rather give it to those who prepare well and make useful contributions to the debate,” he said.
Jandroković disagreed with MOST party leader Božo Petrov that situations like today’s would be easy to deal with had the code of ethics he had proposed been adopted, saying that “a code of ethics cannot put under control MPs who want to attract attention by insulting and making cheap comments.”
“What do you expect?” he told a reporter who remarked that parliamentary sessions were televised live.
“I would have to ban ten MPs a day from speaking for insulting the media alone. You feel offended now but just look at how MPs speak about one another, how they treat the session chair. I would have to be issuing warnings the whole time. I don’t do it because the judgment of the public, not my warnings, is decisive,” Jadroković said, adding that he did issue warnings in cases when he considered it necessary.
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