ZAGREB, 16 Feb 2022 - MPs on Wednesday criticised Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Peđa Grbin after it transpired that he and his party colleague Arsen Bauk had used the most benefits as MPs.

"Everyone answers for themselves but how can Grbin claim that he can run the country if he can't say where he lives," said Stephen Nikola Bartulica of the Homeland Movement after Grbin said that by using his living away from home allowance (LAFHA), he had not violated any law.

"In principle, politicians in Croatia are divorced from reality, they live in a parallel world", said Bartulica.

Marijan Pavliček of the Croatian Sovereignists said it was sad that some manipulated the living away from home allowance.

"You cannot live in both Pula and Zagreb, have your family both in Pula and in Zagreb," Pavliček said, adding that he was willing to be the first to give up his LAFHA if all MPs would do the same.

Romana Nikolić, a former SDP MP and now a member of the Social Democrats, too, criticised Grbin, noting that such conduct was why citizens did not trust politicians.

MPs who live outside Zagreb should be compensated for rent, travel expenses

"If you have relocated, there should be no allowance for living away from home," said Sandra Benčić of We Can!.

"MPs who live outside of Zagreb and come to Zagreb to attend sessions of the parliament three to four days a week should receive allowances of between HRK 2,000 and 2,500 for rent", she said.

"Those whose families live in other cities should be compensated only for the actual costs incurred, such as travel expenses", she said.

"The purpose of allowances is not for someone to earn additional income," she stressed.

Anka Mrak Taritaš of the GLAS party said that MPs living outside of Zagreb should have their rent and travel expenses covered by the state, and she considers the allowance for living away from home unnecessary.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 16 Feb (Hina) - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Peđa Grbin said on Wednesday that he did not breach any law for receiving a Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA), and rejected the claim that all politicians are the same when it comes to utilising perks.

"I am being accused today of using something that I have a right to by law. This is not an issue of whether I violated the law but whether my conduct was ethical and moral," Grbin said in the national parliament, reacting to an article in the daily press that he has been paid LAFHA as a lawmaker because his hometown is Pula yet he is living in Zagreb with his wife and child.

Grbin rejected the claim that all politicians are the same, saying that there are differences between him and for example, Defence Minister Mario Banožić or the Prime Minister's chief of staff Zvonimir Frka Petešić, with regards to violating the law.

Grbin explained that LAFHA is not related to family status or where one's family lives, but where you are from. He believes that MPs who are not from Zagreb should not be called out for these matters, because the Sabor cannot solely represent Zagreb and its inhabitants.

"I do not wish to renounce my hometown. Pula is my town while Zagreb is where I am performing my political duties," said Grbin.

Asked where he lives precisely, Grbin said he too would like to know because he is neither in Zagreb nor in Pula, but his work takes him everywhere.

He explained that his child is still not going to kindergarten because he is only eight months old and spends most of the time with his mother in Pula who is on maternity leave. Grbin added that he decided this year that his child would go to kindergarten in Zagreb and then asked for LAFHA to be ceased. "Not because I considered that I was not entitled to it, but rather because I thought it would not be fair to be paid that allowance," said Grbin.

Wednesday's edition of the Jutarnji List daily claimed that Social Democratic Party MPs Arsen Bauk and Peđa Grbin have mastered the art of utilising all the perks available for national legislator. Even though both have lived in Zagreb for more than 10 years, have their families with them in Zagreb, partners that are employed in Zagreb and children were born in Zagreb, neither of them have changed their registered residency. Bauk is still registered on Brač Island and Grbin in Pula. Until a month ago, Grbin was even paid LAFHA which he has now renounced so he can enrol his child in a kindergarten in Zagreb.

For more, check out our politics section.