Women’s Association of the Homeland War organized a protest against the decision by Prime Minister Plenković not to reappoint Zlatko Hasanbegović as Culture Minister.
A rally in support of former Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović was held on Saturday at the main square in Zagreb, organized by the Women's Association of the Homeland War. The participants read a proclamation demanding explanation why Hasanbegović has not been reappointed as Culture Minister, because they believe he worked in the best interest of Croatia, reports Jutarnji List on October 22, 2016.
“We are against his punishment, since his work record is impeccable and since he said that all crimes against our people need to be investigated”, said at the rally Vesna Matešić from the Women’s Association of the Homeland war.
Only about a hundred people gathered at the Ban Jelačić Square, some of whom carried Croatian flags and sang patriotic songs. The proclamation that was read at the event by Matešić and Gordana Uskok claims that they came “provoked by the conduct of the parliamentary majority which unanimously gave its support to elected members of the new Croatian Government”. They said that members of Parliament had “sold their dreams for the sake of their miserable salaries and privileges”.
In the proclamations they said that “it is the right of Prime Minister to choose his team, but it is the right of Croatian people to elect the person who will choose”. “We do not want to be a socially excluded group in the society, but people who create policies of this country. We wanted to say that – if someone has worked conscientiously, has not embezzled anything and has not worked against the national interests of the Croatian state and has rightly determined that the main problem in the country is the fact that we are shackled by the legacy of communist times – that person should have stayed at his position”, said Matešić.
“The new Prime Minister Andrej Plenković must know that the Croatian people has forgiven everything that has happened in HDZ and has again gave them their vote”, said Matešić. “Plenkovic is the Prime Minister, he will lead the government and we will not put obstacles for him, but we do want the voice of ordinary people to be heard.”
Prime Minister Plenković decided to replace Hasanbegović, a star of the rightwing part of the political spectrum, with Nina Obuljen, who is considered to be a much more moderate choice.
