HDZ Party Stops Cacic Entering Parliament

Cacic says that parliament delayed the decision on activating his mandate so he can not join in the discussion on confidence to the cabinet.

Today the Croatian parliament delayed a proposal that Radimir Cacic’s parliamentary mandate be activated.

Remember, the mandate-immunity committee allowed Cacic to return to parliament even though he violated the legal deadline. Cacic filed a request to activate his parliamentary mandate three months after he stepped down from his position as the mayor of the Varazdin County, and the legal deadline requires the request to be filed within eight days.

The delay was requested by Andrija Hebrang before HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), explaining how the committees in this issue need to voice their opinion, firstly the Committee for the Constitution.

“This is more of a legal complication than a political one” said Hebrang.

Political trade

Ivan Cehok refused to participate in the voting in front of HSLS’s (Croatian Social Liberal Party) club of parliamentarians, calling Cacic’s return “political trade”. He called upon HDZ to change their beliefs and said that “they are trying to explain what is clear to a little child via legal gymnastics”.

“I freeze with the thought of what we are going to do in parliament today” said Cehok.

“Cacic replaced in a brutal way”

Cehok immediately replied to HNS (Croatian People’s Party) Goran Beus Richembergh, stressing that Cacic was replaced as the mayor of the Varazdin County by “political trade and corruption in a circle around Cehok as the mayor of Varazdin”.

“Cacic was replaced in a brutal way despite the will of the voters” said Richembergh.

After the one week delay in voting, the HNS member asked if this means that members of the mandate-immunity committee will resign.

SDP’s (Social Democratic Party) club was not for delaying the decision, explaining that this would create doubt in political trade.

“We consider that the deadline of eight days is instructive, and not comulsary” said the SDP member Arsen Bauk, who is the vice-president of the MIP (mandate-immunity committee).

Cacic: They do not want to see me in the discussion on confidence in the Cabinet

After leaving parliament, Radimir Cacic told the press that this move by HDZ did not surprise him.

“Next week a discussion will be held about giving confidence to the premier and Cabinet, and what I think about that, is not unknown to the Croatian public. According to that, I am certain that HDZ did not want to see me at that discussion, and in that they are being helped by HSLS and HSU (Croatian Pensioners’ Party)” said Cacic.

He concluded that the law is clear about his mandate, and that a parliamentarian is chosen by the will of the people, and not HDZ or Cehok.