ZAGREB, December 4, 2018 - The leaders of the parliamentary opposition parties GLAS, HSS, IDS and HSS told a press conference in Zagreb on Tuesday that Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić "must go" following Monday's decision by the Conflict of Interest Commission.
"Marić must go. However, it is also important to pass a new law on conflict of interest, but not in the way Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević would want. All institutions cannot be dependent on the (ruling) HDZ," the leader of the Civic Liberal Alliance (GLAS), Anka Mrak Taritaš, said.
"There already was a vote of confidence in Marić and the result was 75 votes in favour of his resignation and 75 votes against, which showed what we think about him," she added.
In May last year, Croatia's 151-seat parliament did not pass a no-confidence vote against Finance Minister Marić after 75 lawmakers voted for the opposition's motion for the dismissal of the minister whom they accuse of the conflict of interest in connection with Agrokor, and the same number voted against the motion, with one lawmaker abstaining.
Mrak Taritaš noted today that there was already speculation that Marić would resign after the New Year and that he had indicated that he had found a new job.
The Conflict of Interest Commission decided on Monday that former Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Martina Dalić and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić had violated the principle of holding public office in the case of the indebted Agrokor food and retail conglomerate. The violation does not carry any penalties.
The head of the parliamentary group of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Branko Bačić, said on Tuesday that the Conflict of Interest Commission had found that in the case of Finance Minister Zdravko Marić and former Economy Minister Martina Dalić there was no conflict of interest in their actions while they were dealing with the crisis surrounding the privately owned Agrokor Group, and dismissed opposition calls for Marić's resignation.
"There is no reason for the opposition to demand the minister's resignation, and the minister will not tender his resignation," Bačić said, adding that the Commission had extensively interpreted the conflict of interest legislation when deciding on the cases of Maric and Dalić.
Bačić said that working in one's own interest constituted a conflict of interest, and that nobody proved that Marić acted in that way in this case.
Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said he would take legal steps to contest a Conflict of Interest Commission decision under which he violated the principle of holding public office in the case of the indebted Agrokor food and retail conglomerate.
Speaking to Croatian reporters covering his trip to Brussels, Marić said he had not received the decision in writing yet and that when he did he would "decide how to comment on it." He said he would "certainly" take legal action "to contest the decision because I believe I wasn't in a conflict of interest, which the Commission already confirmed once, nor did I violate the principle of holding public office."
"I saw that a manoeuvre was made, I don't know for what reason nor do I consider it justified or comprehensible, which was to combine my case with the others that followed, and I will file a complaint regarding this too. I gave a deposition which I signed and gave the Commission and everyone can see that I didn't initiate any of those meetings... but came to them after being invited," said Marić.
He said he did not take part in the creation of any solutions concerning Agrokor nor was he "some kind of operative contact, which I sharply reject." "I attended those meetings in the preliminary stage, when it was necessary to establish the state of affairs and analyse things based on publicly available data. After that, I wasn't involved."
Asked if he was closer to stepping down, as is being speculated in public, Marić said he "wouldn't connect these two things at all" and reiterated that he was doing his job as minister "professionally, responsibly and legally." He said he respected all Croatian institutions but that he had his rights, not just as minister but also as a citizen.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić should not resign, stressing that the Commission did not examine "the concept of conflict of interest" and that it did not find that either Marić or former economy minister Martina Dalić had been in a conflict of interest.
"It's very important that this message be understood clearly, based on what and about what exactly the Commission was deciding. The Commission examined solely... the principles of holding office," he told reporters when asked if Marić should resign, as demanded by the opposition.
"When you have a serious situation, an emergency, the responsibility of the person running the government is big, and this is something which, in all the ex post comments and analyses, those who aren't in that position can't perceive at all," Plenković said, adding that everything that was done to prevent a major economic crisis was not perceived as it should have been.
"The real problem is minimised, while an approach which someone imagines should be taken in a crisis situation is maximised. The reality is somewhat different."
Not one cabinet member has at any moment violated the principles of holding public office, which are conscientious, responsible and unbiased conduct, guarding one's own credibility and the dignity of one's duties, Plenković said.
"Our moves were responsible, we weren't at the level of petty politics and lack of ideas as were the members of then opposition or today's opposition who were then part of the government. But that's their responsibility and something citizens will evaluate when assessing the contribution of every one of us."
Plenković said it had never been as clear as now who in politics was doing their job seriously, responsibly and in the interest of the Croatian citizens and economy, and who saw politics entirely differently. He accused "some political parties" of filing complaints to the Conflict of Interest Commission "to see what it will decide so that (they) can use politically later on."
Asked if former minister Dalić had asked him if the public should be told who was in the informal group that drew up the law on Agrokor's restructuring, Plenkovic said the government could but did not have to form working groups for some matters.
"If you have a company which is on the market and, at that point, is exposed to everything to which the market... if it sees a problem, responds very quickly, then it's wise, responsible, credible and appropriate that everything you do to prevent a bigger problem for Croatian society should be discrete and done in a way which won't additionally destabilise that market. It was necessary to ensure fresh liquidity for the company and this was done in a short time. That's the most important thing," he said.
He said everything concerning Lex Agrokor was done legally by consulting experts who could help draw up a law "which prevented an economic and financial crisis."
For more on the Agrokor affair, click here.
