Zlatko Hasanbegović, a member of the HDZ presidency, criticises the party leader.
After supporting Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and HDZ’s candidate Gordan Jandroković for Parliament Speaker last week, Member of Parliament and member of HDZ presidency Zlatko Hasanbegović appeared as a candidate for the Zagreb City Assembly on a candidate list headed by independent Bruna Esih over the weekend, Esih is running against HDZ’s official candidate, reports Večernji List on May 8, 2017.
Although Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenković first issued a conciliatory statement regarding Hasanbegović’s move, on Sunday he said that no one had the right to run as a candidate on another list and remain an HDZ member at the same time.
On Monday, Zlatko Hasanbegović, who is one of leaders of the right-wing part of HDZ, gave a statement. “I think it would be wise to remind everyone about events that happened about a year ago,” said Hasanbegović. “At the time, Plenković and several colleagues, including the current political secretary Davor Ivo Stier, published a dramatic letter stating that in parliamentary work there are moments in which MPs need to make a bold personal decision,” said Hasanbegović. “The letter ended with a call to HDZ’s MPs to vote according to their conscience, for the benefit of Croatia. This was a call to disobedience, for which Plenković was not subjected to party sanctions,” said Hasanbegović, alluding to events from last year, when then Member of European Parliament Plenković criticised the then party president Tomislav Karamarko.
Then Hasanbegović turned to the current situation with Agrokor and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić, whom he supported in the Parliament. “Today, when HDZ and the government it is leading have been brought into the position to be a hostage of the political destiny of the Finance Minister, that created the impression that the party has been turned into a guarantor in the Agrokor case, which is expected to have a judicial epilogue as well,” said Hasanbegović.
“Is it possible that HDZ and the government depend not just on one party member, but on a person who is not even a member of the party? And then, when the party president, without any consultation with party bodies, has chosen the path that I think is wrong, I wonder if HDZ can allow itself to take part in such parliamentary processes,” said Hasanbegović, alluding to the fact that Prime Minister Plenković decided to break up a coalition with MOST without consulting the party.
Hasanbegović stressed that he was not the only one who disagreed with the recent decision and he called on his colleagues to reconsider. “For days, my colleagues and I have been asking ourselves: isn’t this the moment when the voice of conscience should take precedence over the voice of party leadership? I know that it is much easier for those who do not struggle with such questions, for those who avoid asking themselves ethical and political questions.”
He also announced the possibility of early parliamentary elections being called. “It is realistic to expect elections in the near future. I have decided to risk my political destiny and the future. I will not let someone’s whims lead me. I am convinced that I express the mood of a large part of the party membership.”
Although he was very critical of party leadership and Prime Minister Plenković, he did not offer to resign from the party. “I have not resigned. That decision will be made, as it has been so far, by Andrej Plenković himself, probably in consultation with former Parliament Speaker Vladimir Šeks and chief of staff Davor Božinović” said Hasanbegović.
