PM: Signatures for previous referendums collected without supervision

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Monday said that previously when signatures were collected to petition for a referendum there was absolutely no supervision and that it was necessary to amend that situation, adding that it did not matter how signatures were collected as long as the process was under control.

"The proposal that the collection of signatures to petition for a referendum be allowed exclusively in state administration offices was put forward by the majority in parliament and was not proposed by the government. I don't have an entirely clear stance on that. Speaking truthfully, it's all the same to me whether it is like that or different as long as it is under control," Milanovic said when asked if plans to collect signatures exclusively in public administration offices had been scrapped.

The way signatures were collected for previous referendums was done without any supervision and that needs to be amended, he said.

"No one has the same solution - there is one solution in Slovenia and another in Germany. What is important is that there is order and that rules are followed, and that is the most valuable thing that my government has managed to achieve in Croatia over the past three and a half years," the prime minister said on tour inspecting the completed section of roads in Krapina-Zagorje County.

That is a system in which some people cannot seem to live in and are "constantly clashing with the rule of law because the Balkan way is no longer possible."

Commenting on the news that Dragan Vasiljkovic, aka captain Dragan, was to be extradited to Croatia on Thursday, the PM said that "he is no captain but a man with a name and surname."

"He considers that as honourable, we consider that it is not and have requested his extradition. I hope that he will finally come to a Croatian court. Justice is something that somehow, with difficulty and a lot of pain, prevails and I believe that that will be the case this time. Croatia won the war and those who have to answer for crimes will not evade justice or will at least live in fear that justice will catch up with them," he said.

Commenting on the largest opposition party Croatian Democratic Union's announcements of the key reforms it will introduce in its first year in office and the accusations made against the incumbent government that it was a "coalition to the last breath," Milanovic said that "citizens know and feel."

"I think it's obvious to citizens. It's a question of trust, that is something we have been fighting for for three and a half years and I believe that we will win. If someone will be duped, they will be," he underscored.

Asked whether his tour of completed construction sites was part of an election campaign, Milanovic said that "this is the result of the government's work during economic crisis. This is something that needs to be seen because we care for the people who live here and not just here but in Dalmatia and Slavonia too. These are our results," he said.

(Hina) sp

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