MOST president talks about the spying allegations and negotiations with HDZ.
MOST president Božo Petrov said that the Security Intelligence Agency and the police have to change and that the outgoing Interior Minister Ranko Ostojić should have a debate with the Parliamentary Committee for Internal Affairs and National Security and the police authorities in charge of wiretapping and surveillance, and not with him, reports Index.hr on January 7, 2016.
After MOST spokesman Nikola Grmoja said there were indications that Petrov had been spied on and connected it with Ostojić, Petrov said that he had learnt all the information from the media and that it is up to the relevant institutions to make the next move. “I believe that people from police know something about this, as well as the person who filed the submission to Parliament. I believe the relevant institutions will do the right thing and that the truth will come to light. It is interesting that the Internal Control Department has never identified a single abuse of authority, which only shows that we are right when we say that the Ministry of Interior and the Security Intelligence Agency must be reformed”, said Petrov.
Outgoing Interior Minister Ranko Ostojić said that Božo Petrov had not been followed nor spied on and argued that MOST spokesman Grmoja is telling lies. He added he was ready to have a debate about it with Petrov.
Talking about the negotiations on forming a new government, Petrov pointed out that the objective of MOST are reforms and that they will happen if they choose the best candidates for positions in government, regardless of their party affiliation. He added that Prime Minister-designate Tihomir Orešković is a man with an impeccable CV and that MOST accepted the proposal made by Patriotic Coalition since they knew what kind of person he is. “I think he has good personality and is very analytical, systematic, likes challenges, cares about Croatia and does not want to leave things to chance. I believe that he also knows this is a unique opportunity to change things in Croatia”, added Petrov.
He pointed out that MOST is made of high-quality people and that there are those who can be ministers, however, final decisions have still not been made. “We still have not decided whether we are going to give the opportunity to independent experts. That would show that we have never fought for posts in government for us personally”, said Petrov.
Speaking about the attacks on MOST, especially after the election campaign was over, Petrov said that he was sick when he saw that “everybody tried to crucify MOST because we have shown that politics can be different”. Talking about the role of the Catholic Church, he pointed out that the Church can and should respond to anomalies in the society, but should not take sides. Certain individuals within the Church must not have the freedom to define who is a traitor”, said Petrov.