ZAGREB, 29 March 2022 - Ruling HDZ party whip Branko Bačić said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković enjoyed the absolute support of the party's parliamentary group and its partners in the ruling coalition for a possible government reshuffle.

After a meeting of the ruling coalition, Bačić told reporters that a government reshuffle was not discussed except for the coalition partners having given, at the end of the meeting, their full support to the PM for a possible reshuffle and "its scope".

"It was stressed that the Prime Minister enjoys the full support of all coalition partners for a reshuffle, when he opts for it, and the extent of it," said Bačić.

Asked about allegations in the Nacional weekly that eight HDZ MPs would vote against a reshuffle if Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak was to be replaced, Bačić said it was idle talk and that the HDZ party group "is absolutely unanimous."

ZAGREB, 8 Feb 2022 - Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) vice president Branko Bačić said on Tuesday that the current epidemiological situation did not allow for a possible revocation of COVID passes.

"It's neither under discussion nor consideration," Bačić said in response to reporters' questions if the authorities are considering doing away with COVID certificates.

He recalled that the current epidemiological situation, including a rate of only 67% of fully vaccinated persons and the current incidence rate, were not conducive to plans to ease the restrictions.

Since the introduction of the COVID certificate mandate in the public sector, approximately 120,000 asymptomatic citizens have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

He said that vaccination rates in the countries that are now thinking of scrapping COVID passes are much higher than in Croatia.

There is no country in Europe that has completely done away with COVID certificates,  he said.

ZAGREB, 8 Feb 2022 - The head of the post-earthquake reconstruction task force, Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved, on Tuesday informed the ruling coalition partners about the status of works in the quake-hit Banovina region.

After the meeting, the vice president of the ruling HDZ party, Branko Bačić, said the construction of the first 30 prefab replacement houses had begun.

This week the construction of another 30 brick houses will also begin, he said, adding that tenders and public procurement will now be continuous, giving reconstruction in Banovina a big momentum.

Regarding reconstruction that does not involve seismic retrofitting, Bačić said that Medved informed them that 1,332 houses had been rebuilt and that it was now the turn for another 1,000.

The goal is to give a roof over the head of every Banovina inhabitant by the end of the year so that they don't welcome next winter in inappropriate conditions, he said.

Also, Bačić dismissed accusations from the opposition Bridge party that the government was stalling the verification of signatures it collected for a referendum against COVID certificates.

"It's in the interest of us in the ruling majority, too, to have the number of signatures checked as soon as possible," he said.

The proposal of the parliamentary committee on the constitution on the two referendum petitions will be debated at a plenary on Thursday and only when parliament votes on it can the government begin verifying the signatures, he added.

MPs will also debate the possibility that representatives of the two referendum petitions monitor the signature counting and verification.

ZAGREB, 15 July 2021 - Kazimir Bačić, who was recently arrested on suspicion of graft, was on Thursday relieved of his duties as Director-General of the HRT public broadcasting service by 116 to two votes.

The parliament also appointed the current Director of Programming Renato Kunić acting Director-General, and this decision was supported by 77 lawmakers, two abstentions and 42 MPs voted against it.

In early July, the HRT Supervisory Board unanimously agreed at an extraordinary meeting to initiate the procedure for the dismissal of Bačić after he was arrested.

USKOK corruption investigators suspect that Bačić, acting on behalf of businessman Milan Lončarić, took €50,000 in a bribe to the late Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić for the Gardens of Light project. As a reward for his role, Bačić is believed to have been given an apartment worth HRK 1 million (€133,300) in central Zagreb.

The parliament today dismissed a proposal made by Social Democrat Arsen Bauk that Kunić should be encouraged to withdraw HRT defamation lawsuits which the broadcaster had filed against some of its journalists. It was Bačić who had previously initiated those actions.

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ZAGREB, July 28 (Hina) - HDZ whip Branko Bacic said on Tuesday the bill on the post-earthquake reconstruction of the Zagreb area was good and that the goal was for the law to stand the test of time.

"Our goal is for the law to stand the test of time... and given the length of the reconstruction, to fulfill its purpose," he told reporters ahead of parliamentary debate on the bill.

Bacic said opposition MPs too had backed the bill, that it had passed regular procedure, and that it included numerous remarks from citizens and institutions.

He said the parliamentary majority was willing to accept good proposals from the opposition but added that concrete proposals would be visible only during the second reading of the bill when amendments were submitted.

Capak is doing an excellent job

Speaking of Krunoslav Capak, head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), whose epidemiological recommendations are being strongly criticised by the opposition, Bacic said the parliamentary majority and the government "fully support" him.

Capak is doing an excellent job as the HZJZ director and the coronavirus numbers over the past five months show that he, the HZJZ and the whole national COVID response team are doing a very good job, he added.