President Milanović: When Parliament is dissolved, I will inform the public in the shortest time possible about the election date
“When Parliament is dissolved, I will inform the public on my decision about the election date in the shortest time. Will I consult political parties regarding the election date? I won’t, the responsibility rests with me. I can’t talk with everyone. For instance, I can’t talk with the (ruling party) HDZ at all because HDZ doesn’t want to talk, it’s their choice. So, I don’t know how much sense it makes to talk with others,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said in Požega, in response to a reporter’s question of when he would decide on the date of the parliamentary election, after attending a swearing-in ceremony of the 41st generation of soldiers enrolled in voluntary military training,.
President Milanović commented to the representatives of the press on the appointment of the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and the Government’s expectation that he would accept its proposed candidate for the post of Director of the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA).
“These are two separate things. They could have been merged had the Prime Minister taken my call, but he did not do that. My options are limited. I said that I wanted this to be resolved, although now, on the eve of the election, it is a question of whether it is acceptable. I don’t know what the outcome of the election will be and maybe it’s not proper to impose something on whoever’s coming, in this way. The fact is that on 7 May, after 8 years, the term of SOA Director Markić will expire. Realistically, we can find ourselves in a situation where there is no Government and we do not have both stakeholders in the co-signature because the Director is appointed by consensus and agreement. There is no Government proposal because according to the law the Government is not the proposer. The proposer can be (Prime Minister) Plenković, or I. This is the only way to preserve the dignity of the service and the dignity of that man who worked for the country for 8 years,” said the President of the Republic.
“Two days ago I tried to get in touch with Mr. AP, but he doesn’t want to talk. The obstruction of the national security system has been going on for years,” President Milanović warned, adding that it continues “because someone imagined they could do it.”
“We have a few more days ahead of us during which we can resolve this issue as well, but we need to talk,” he said, adding that the forced appointment of Ivan Turudić as State Attorney General is turning into one of the greatest farces in the country’s history. “An oversight was made by the SOA. It is not possible for such important information not to be given to AP and for him to then cover himself by saying he did not know. The SOA and its imperfect procedures are responsible because AP wasn’t in the know earlier. Now we will ensure that this is known earlier so that one does not have a series of defensive fortifications against the truth. According to the law, the SOA has a Director and a Deputy Director, and the Deputy Director has not been appointed because it does not suit the ruling HDZ party,” concluded the President of the Republic.