Budget wars between MOST and former president Mesić
MOST has decided to propose an amendment to the budget for this year. “We suggest that the 600,000 kuna intended for the Office of Former President Stjepan Mesić should be given to civilians who were severely injuring during the war. This would mean that Mesić, instead of 777,819 kuna, would receive 177,819 kuna while the budget for civilian victims with disabilities would be increased from 22.3 million to 22.9 million”, announced MOST on its Facebook page, reports Index.hr on March 16, 2016.
Miro Bulj, MOST’s MP, discussed in December the issue of abolishing the Office of Former President Stjepan Mesić. At the time, Mesić said that he expected reforms from the new government and that the abolition of his office was just politicking and not real reforms. “That is something that always sounds nice to my political opponents. They are my political opponents and that is what is bothering them, and not 800,000 from the budget”, said Mesić. “Everything I do, I do with the purpose of lobbying for Croatia. I do not know who Bulj is, but he probably knows what I do”, concluded Mesić at the time.
Today, Mesić reacted to the latest initiative of MOST. “The initiative to drastically reduce the budget for the Office of the Former President, which had already been repeatedly reduced, is a perfectly transparent attempt to abolish the office, without making the formal decision. The adoption of the law that would officially repeal the Office of the Former President would likely bring very negative reactions from abroad, and they want to avoid it. The tradition that former presidents have their offices and a small number of employees (in this particular case, just one permanently employed person) is common in many countries. Ever since I stopped being the President, I have participated in numerous international conferences, met with a large number of former and current world leaders and held a series of lectures abroad. I helped, as much as I could, in preserving the reputation of Croatia in the world, although it was not always the easiest thing to do. I can only repeat what I have said many times: the Office of the Former President is not my office, but an institution which should serve former heads of state, no matter who they are. I personally cannot be abolished. We should not forget the fact that I am the last active member of the generation that opened the door to democracy in Croatia. And as such, I am bothering those who today want to bring in question that very same democracy”, concluded Mesić.
