The parliamentary committee will support Dobronić, Mrčela for Supreme Court president

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday the ruling coalition would back the candidacies of Radovan Dobronić and Marin Mrčela at tomorrow's meeting of the parliamentary judiciary committee on the selection of the president of the Supreme Court.

Speaking to the press after a meeting of the parliamentary majority, the prime minister said Dobronić presented a good programme and that Supreme Court judge Mrčela's programme was good too, so both deserved a positive assessment.

Dobronić meets the terms of the public call for applications, he delivered an important decision in the case of loans pegged to the Swiss franc, and submitted his candidacy as stipulated by law.

He is a man of integrity who is not inclined to corruption, so it is unlikely that someone better might apply in the future, Plenković said.

In this way, the parliamentary majority wants to bring to an end the saga of the selection of the Supreme Court president, and it is good for the Croatian judiciary for this process to be finished.

The parliamentary committee will vote on the five candidates, the president of the republic will be informed of the outcome and recommend one candidate to parliament. If President Zoran Milanović recommends Dobronić, the parliamentary majority will vote for him, Plenković said.

Vast majority rationally accepted decision on COVID certificates

"And as regards people gathering in front of hospitals who have nothing to do with that, that is a part of democracy and the political folklore that exists," he added.

Commenting on fuel price hikes, Plenković recalled that with the tools at its disposal the state was doing everything so that gas and electricity prices did not go up during the winter months and would take action in that regard if necessary.

Commenting on replacements in the Zagreb Holding multi-utility company, Plenković said it was obvious the new city authorities were realising how demanding it was to lead a city like Zagreb. In reference to media reports that leading figures in the city were working until late into the night, Plenković said, "this isn't the time to shed tears."

"A lot more training is needed for the city to function. Zagreb is my town, a town we care about and that is why we will amend the Reconstruction Act to step up the reconstruction process. We have granted Zagreb an interest-free loan of HRK 150 million to resolve the problem of liquidity the current authorities are faced with," he said.

Plenković said that the parliamentary majority would vote for Radovan Dobronić to be the president of the Supreme Court if President Zoran Milanović, as the authorised proposer, recommended him for the post.

Serbian textbooks' negation of existence of Croatian language outrageous

"The embassy, the foreign ministry and all the relevant institutions have a clear duty to send protest notes to Serbia," Plenković told the press after he met junior partners in the ruling coalition in Zagreb.

"We consider it a shameful policy," he added.

On Monday, the political leadership of Croats in Serbia condemned the denial of the Croatian language in grammar books for eighth-graders. According to the local Croat-language weekly "Hrvatska riječ", a grammar book for eighth-graders by a group of authors says that the Serbian, Slovenian, Macedonian and Bulgarian languages are South Slavic languages while "Croats, Bosniaks and some Montenegrins call the Serbian language Croatian, Bosnian, Bosniak or Montenegrin." The textbook was approved by the Serbian Institute for the Promotion of Education, the weekly said.

Plenković said today that Croatia expected Serbia to rectify such anomalies in its grammar books.

He added that he would also convey Croatia's position on the matter to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić who is expected to attend a two-day EU-Western Balkans summit, which begins on Tuesday afternoon in Slovenia.

Text: HINA

News