PM tells President gov't is accountable to parliament and voters

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday that he had not yet seen President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic's statement in which she called on him to either resign or outline measures to pull the country out of the economic crisis, underlining that "the government answers to the Croatian parliament and voters".

"The entire government is accountable to the Croatian parliament and Croatian citizens, voters who were aware of who they were electing when they went to the polls and who knew whom they would elect for the position of premier," Milanovic said during a visit to the coastal city of Sibenik.

Those are simple rules, and Croatia can't have dichotomous power relations, said Milanovic.

Asked whether he would convene a thematic session of the government, as suggested by President Grabar-Kitarovic, Milanovic said that he treated the government seriously as the government did a serious job.

All well-intentioned people come with concrete proposals, and with concrete questions regarding the government's work, the PM said, adding that in that context he did not make differences between his Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Every good proposal will be embraced, he added.

He called on President Grabar-Kitarovic to join him and his cabinet in their efforts to implement the EUR 130 million youth employment scheme and relevant contracts which the government would soon sign with employers.

Croatia is not heavily indebted like Greece, it is servicing its foreign debt, it has revenues from the tourism sector in the amount of eight billion euros, and currently there are 40,000 fewer job-seekers registered at the Employment Agency than a year ago. These positive trends are evident, the PM said.

A letter President Grabar-Kitarovic sent to PM Milanovic on Monday afternoon, in which she recommended a thematic session of the government with a five-point agenda, is an official request warranted by the dire economic situation in the country, the President's Office said on Monday evening.

It is the only letter and at the same time an official request addressed to PM Milanovic to convene a thematic session, Hina was told.

Grabar-Kitarovic spoke with Milanovic on the phone last Thursday, proposing that their teams prepare a thematic government session on the economic situation in the country.

PM sent her a letter on Monday saying that she, rather than the government, should make specific proposals, indicate a method of their implementation, and give an estimate of the financial effects of the proposals.

Since it was evident from his letter that the PM turned down the proposal the President made in their telephone conversation, she sent an official letter requesting a thematic government session and proposing a five-point agenda, Hina was told at the President's Office.

Earlier on Monday, a statement released by Grabar-Kitarovic's office read that the most concrete proposal to pull the country out of the crisis would be Milanovic's resignation.

After PM Milanovic wrote to the president on Monday inviting her to come to a government session whenever it suited her and recommending that she prepared concrete proposals for that meeting on the country's economic woes, the President's Office issued the statement reading that the most concrete proposal would be Milanovic's resignation.

If the premier does not accept this proposal, he should outline concrete proposals and models for their implementation as well as assessments of the financial effects of those proposals and proposals how the country can come out of the crisis, which is the constitutional obligation of the government and not of the head of state, according to the statement issued by the Office of the President.

(Hina) ms

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