ZAGREB, September 11, 2018 – Parliament Speaker and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) secretary-general Gordan Jandroković said on Tuesday that there is no reason for a snap parliamentary election and that the HDZ is more than stable.
Commenting on Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava’s (HDZ) announcement of a protest rally in that town to express dissatisfaction with the way state institutions are prosecuting war crimes and shedding light on the missing in the Homeland War, Jandroković said that Penava would not suffer any consequences in the party.
“There is no reason for a snap election as long as there is a majority of 76 MPs or more hands. It is essential that the government has political stability in the parliament, and it does. We have proved over the past few months that we can successfully pass laws with 77 hands and I expect that to continue,” Jandroković told reporters after a meeting of the parliament’s presidency, ahead of the start of the regular parliamentary season.
Asked whether the cases of ousted party colleague Darko Milinović and Penava indicated that the situation in HDZ is not stable, Jandroković retorted that the situation is stable but that sometimes discussions and higher tones are known to occur.
“HDZ is more than stable. Compare it to other political parties and you will see that we have remained the only strong political party. Naturally, there are discussions in HDZ and sometimes voices are raised. However, we always endeavour to resolve those disputes through discussion and dialogue. We are aware of the responsibility we have because we are the largest and strongest political party and the backbone of this parliamentary majority and the government,” said Jandroković.
Asked whether Penava would be penalised in the party after he announced a protest rally in Vukovar because war crimes were not being tried, Jandroković said that he wouldn’t be. “There won’t be any penalties. I spoke with Penava and he explained the reasons and the frustrations that Vukovar residents have, and we will continue that dialogue,” Jandroković said.
He added that it is a fact that there is a large number of unresolved cases and that he expects state institutions, primarily the State Prosecutor’s Office (DORH) and courts, to try all those that deserve to be.
Asked whether reforms in Croatia were going ahead too slowly, Jandroković said that whenever reforms are mentioned there is a lot of emotion and that there were a lot or people who perhaps aren’t satisfied with the reforms. “It is absolutely necessary to accelerate the pace of reforms regarding the pension and health systems, the judiciary, state administration, and I believe that the laws we have already and those that will be come from the government will make all those sectors more efficient,” he said.
