After several days of silence, the Leader of the Opposition finally speaks.
SDP president and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović said at today’s press conference that his party would seek a vote of no confidence in First Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko due to the discovery about the links between MOL lobbyist Josip Petrović and Karamarko’s wife Ana Šarić Karamarko, reports Večernji List on May 12, 2016.
“Karamarko should decide whether to engage in public or private business. He cannot have it both ways”, said Milanović. He added that “triangle of relationship” indicates a “very fruitful relationship between the Karamarko family, Josip Petrović and MOL”.
“The MOL lobbyist had a contract with the wife of First Deputy Prime Minister and HDZ president. That is completely unsustainable. I am not saying that there are elements of criminal responsibility, but politically it is impossible. Karamarko should resign. We should separate private and business issues. Politicians should deal with public affairs, in the public interest, and it is obvious that this story, when it comes to HDZ, is being repeated from generation to generation. Since he has not resigned, we will demand his removal”, said Milanović.
He also said he wanted to see what MOST thought about it, which he described as HDZ’s coalition partner whose president some time ago demanded that Karamarko makes a statement about the lobbyist who was paying his wife.
Milanović said that Croatia had no government and no parliamentary majority. “I do not know how long this will last. We have not had a parliamentary majority since Easter”, said Milanović.
Milanović also commented on the government’s decision to remove eight companies from the list of strategically important companies. He said that ACI must remain a strategic company. “If ACI is not a strategic company, then I do not know what is”, said Milanović, adding that he would also demand that this issue be discussed in Parliament. “There is no clear plan, but someone has brought bad corporate business practices that may work in pharmaceuticals industry, but cannot work in a government”, said Milanović.
Milanović said that Tihomir Orešković was an experimental Prime Minister, and added that such solution did not work in these political circumstances.”We have a majority which does not exist, we have small parties that went to the polls together with HDZ and which will almost certainly never again enter Parliament, and we have MOST with whom we negotiated in good faith”, said Milanović.
