PM Ivo Sanader comments on bill on construction of sports halls for 2009 championships

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader reiterated in parliament on Wednesday that the government-sponsored bill on the construction of sports halls for the 2009 world handball championships, which was withdrawn last week, had been initiated by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic and the Social Democrats.

ZAGREB, Jan 24 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader reiterated in parliament on Wednesday that the government-sponsored bill on the construction of sports halls for the 2009 world handball championships, which was withdrawn last week, had been initiated by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic and the Social Democrats.

"When they told us the bill was necessary, we proposed it, and when they said they did not need it, we withdrew it," Sanader said, adding that Bandic's position had led the government to the conclusion that Zagreb was capable of building sports halls for the championships on its own.

Vesna Skulic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) recalled Sanader's statement that it was with anxiety that he was waiting to see if the cities hosting the championships would manage to organise the event.

"Did you feel anxiety when you abolished VAT on import of cars for disabled civilians, or when in the past two years I kept asking about a fund for occupational rehabilitation and employment, or when you abolished benefits for the transport of sick children and reintroduced them only after fierce pressure by this Opposition. I do not care about your emotional state, but I do care about your irresponsibility and the irresponsibility of this government," Skulic said.

Damir Kajin of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) wanted to know what the government was doing to claim back money from secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Austria, where he said money acquired through privatisation wrongdoings, arms purchase and murky dealings in the shipbuilding industry had been transferred.

Finance Minister Ivan Suker responded that the Chief State Prosecutor's Office had set up a task force to deal with this problem, but that the biggest obstacle to solving it was the fact that documents related to secret bank accounts had been taken from his ministry during the term of the previous government and that he did not know where those documents were.



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