ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 - People's Party - Reformists president Radimir Čačić said on Saturday the arrested Construction Minister Darko Horvat has to leave the government and that the "further scope and results of the police operation will be the basis for the party's decision on supporting the Andrej Plenković cabinet."

Čačić told Hina the fact that this was the first arrest of a minister in office in Croatian history spoke enough and that it should be neither underestimated nor downplayed.

He said the prime minister evidently knew nothing about the police operation and that this showed that he "neither had the information nor influenced the judiciary, which has often been claimed."

Čačić said statements that the arrest was made to avoid a parliamentary debate on Horvat's competence or incompetence were unworthy of comment.

"There is no prime minister or government that would do that," he said, adding, "If the investigation covers some more ministers, as it seems indications exist, the decisions are not just about Horvat leaving."

Čačić said the question was not whether Horvat would leave or not, but that his leaving was an inevitable fact.

According to him, Horvat's arrest is the culmination of the case of entrepreneur Milenko Bašić in continuation of the case of Josipa Rimac, a former official of the ruling HDZ.

Čačić said he started "the whole story" by reporting Bašić to the police four years ago after Bašić told him, "We know how to reward our friends, we know how to square accounts with our enemies." He said this statement "only proves what kinds of criminal behaviour have root here."

He said it was good that the judiciary was opening and prosecuting crime at all levels without political influence. "These crimes, unquestionably unacceptable, hide much more serious things and show that the system can be corrupted.

"Horvat can no longer be a topic in parliament, he has to go," Čačić said.

Čačić's only party MP, Natalija Martinčević, told Hina that the party's stance was that Horvat must leave the government and that the party would decide on further steps.

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