MOST will issue an ultimatum with five demands to HDZ and SDP if they want to form the government with them.
MOST currently does not exclude the possibility of post-election cooperation with any political party, but will soon officially announce that any potential partners in the new government will have to fulfil even more difficult conditions than after the last elections, reports Jutarnji List on August 31, 2016.
“Cooperation will be possible with those political parties in Parliament which demonstrate that they are ready to accept MOST’s legislative proposals. By voting for our proposals, they will show that they are willing to change, that we can count on cooperating in the government”, said Nikola Grmoja, one of the leaders of MOST, explaining that HDZ would first have to vote for MOST’s proposal and only then would MOST MPs vote for Andrej Plenković as new prime minister (the same goes for SDP and Zoran Milanović).
Grmoja explained that during last Parliament there were several legislative proposals by MOST which Speaker of Parliament Željko Reiner had not even put to a vote. “After the elections, Parliament has to be constituted first, and then there is no obstacle for debating and adopting legislation. And after Parliament finishes with debating MOST’s proposals from last Parliament, then we can agree on the government and Parliament can confirm the new cabinet”, said Grmoja.
“This is no blackmail. We can no longer afford for some of our promises not be put into action. MOST must have a guarantee that our promises will be carried out”, said Robert Podolnjak (MOST), who in last Parliament was Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitution and Political System.
One of the proposals which HDZ or SDP would have to adopt is the Law on Rights and Obligations of MPs. Other legislative proposals are amendments to the Law on the Croatian National Bank, the adoption of the MOST’s Waste Management Strategy, changes to the Law on Financing Political Parties, and the first part of the reform package on local and regional administration system.
“The Law on the Rights and Obligations of MPs was discussed at the Presidency of Parliament and should have been debated so that all political parties can state their position on the issue”, said Podolnjak, who believes that Parliament should abolish the right of former MPs to receive full salary for six months after leaving office, and half of salary for additional six months. “I think we should use the German model that would give former MPs one month of salary for one year of their term in office”, explained Podolnjak.
Regarding the financing of political parties, Podolnjak said that parties should receive less money from the budget and that new stricter rules should be introduced regarding sources from which parties can be financed.
One of the more controversial proposals is the amendments to the Law on the Croatian National Bank (HNB). The amendments would allow the State Audit Office to audit the HNB operations. MOST explains that they do not want to put under control the Bank's monetary policy or to interfere with its independence, but that audit would focus on the way HNB manages its assets and money it spends.
Finally, MOST wants to reform the local government system. Podolnjak explained that public consultation period had already finished for its first phase and that it could enter the parliamentary procedure. It would significantly reduce political and administrative structure in local government units, which would reduce the number of administrators and councillors, as well as merge some of the smaller municipalities. This phase would not affect the territorial reorganization which would follow later.
