ZAGREB, 4 Dec, 2021 - The parliamentary opposition party Bridge started gathering signatures at over 1,200 venues across Croatia on Saturday for a referendum to regulate the work of the national COVID-19 crisis management team and abolish COVID certificates.

"We have started gathering signatures for this crucial referendum to strip the national COVID-19 team of its powers, restore democracy and abolish unlawful COVID certificates," the party's MP Marija Selak Raspudić told a press conference in front of a signature collection point in Zagreb's main square.

Signatures will be collected at stands in public places until 18 December. The referendum would demand that COVID certificates, which are now mandatory for entry into state and public institutions, be abolished within 30 days and that the powers of the COVID-19 crisis management team be transferred to Parliament.

MP Nino Raspudić said that the referendum questions contained what the opposition had been demanding all along - to return decision making to Parliament. He called on the other opposition parties, both left-wing and right-wing, and all people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, to join them "on the last line of defence of democracy and the constitutional order."

The questions were formulated in cooperation with constitutional law experts.

Asked what the alternative to COVID certificates was, Selak Raspudić said that it was the testing of vulnerable groups in all health institutions and compliance with the epidemiological measures.

There is enough money for testing, because vaccines are being purchased in excessive quantities and are later donated anyway. That money could partly be used for buying tests, she added.

"We are not against measures. We are in favour of measures that will be consistent, epidemiologically founded and non-discriminating," Selak Raspudić stressed.

The press wanted to know if the Bridge MPs regretted their support for the recent protest rally against COVID certificates after the police announced they were investigating several persons on suspicion of inciting terrorism and some of those people were connected with the protest.

"We supported the people who came out to express their dissatisfaction, and not terrorism. We are the last persons who would advocate violence or any kind of terrorism, because we are fighting for the citizens' rights and freedoms in a democratic and legal way," MP Nikola Grmoja said.

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ZAGREB, 10 March, 2021 - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday discussed a proposal by the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System to nominate attorney and judge Sandra Hančić and Deputy Public Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter for the post of Public Ombudsman.

Several opposition party groups expressed dissatisfaction that Public Ombudswoman Lora Vidović's reports for 2018 and 2019 had still not been discussed.

Nino Raspudić of the Bridge party warned about what he called a huge increase in the budget of the ombudswoman's office, saying it had doubled since 2008, as well as about an increase in the number of staff.

He proposed reducing the term of the public ombudsman from eight to five years and that the official should be elected by a two-thirds majority in the parliament.

That way one would not elect a para-political person, said Raspudić, adding that outgoing Public Ombudswoman Lora Vidović had not dealt with issues she should have dealt with and that she made her views clear when she opposed the 2013 referendum on marriage as a union of man and woman.

Dalija Orešković (Centar, GLAS) warned about growing social inequality and what she described as the shameful treatment of the office of public ombudswoman, whose reports for 2018 and 2019 had still not been discussed by the parliament. The Public Ombudswoman has protected public interest and not the interests of the HDZ, Orešković said, accusing the ruling party of destroying the country and causing its people to emigrate.

She dismissed Raspudić's claim that Vidović was a para-political figure.

The declining number of applications for the post shows that candidates do not see any prospects there, she said.

Ružica Vukovac of the Homeland Movement warned that MPs were only given short biographies of the candidates, who were not presented in the parliament.

Vesna Nađ (SDP) said that her party preferred Šimonović Einwalter, noting that it was not good that the public ombudswoman's reports for 2018 and 2019 had not been discussed.

Damir Habijan of the HDZ said the office of the public ombudsman was undoubtedly important and that the candidates had answered all questions put to them by two parliamentary committees.

The public ombudsman is expected to advocate and protect the rights and freedoms defined by the Constitution and international treaties, and the HDZ will make a decision on which candidate to support when the vote is taken, he said.

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ZAGREB, 3 March, 2021 - Parliament on Wednesday debated a draft list of candidates for Croatian Radio-Television's (HRT) Programming Council but opposition MPs, disgruntled that the HRT was not broadcasting the debate live, walked out of the chamber.

Parliament is expected to vote on the candidates who meet the requirements set by the parliamentary media committee on Friday.

During the debate before the walkout, Nino Raspudić of the opposition Bridge (Most) said the Programming Council "has no powers and serves nothing because no one listens to it, it has no role at all nor influence on the selection of anyone or anything."

"The HRT is in the service of the great leader and his clique on a caricature level," he said, adding that the reputation and relevance of the public broadcaster was being constantly degraded and that the HRT avoided covering serious topics.

Raspudić said the Programming Council was disempowered by amendments to the HRT Act adopted by the former SDP-led government, adding that the power was concentrated in the hands of the HRT director general and the HRT put under direct political control.

Željko Sačić of the opposition Croatian Sovereignists said the HRT did not have enough programmes for war veterans and criticised the Programming Council for failing to affirm the values in the Homeland War Declaration.

Marijana Puljak of opposition Centre suggested abolishing the licence fee and the Programming Council, saying that Croatia had high taxes which could be used to finance the HRT's work instead of additionally collecting HRK 1.3 billion annually from citizens. She added that there was no investigating journalism on the HRT.

Vesna Bedeković of the ruling HDZ denied that the Programming Council had no role or powers, saying it followed the implementation of programming principles and the HRT-government agreement.

She recalled that nine of the Council's 11 members were elected in parliament and two from the HRT staff, and dismissed complaints that there were no sufficient programmes for war veterans.

ZAGREB, October 23, 2020 - Independent MP Nino Raspudic, who is a member of the parliamentary group of the opposition Bridge party, on Friday dismissed assessments that the Croatian society was frustrated and that there was political extremism in the country.

"Conclusions are being made even before the end of the investigation into the tragic attack in St. Mark's Square and its outcome is being prejudged," Raspudic said in reference to the October 12 incident when a 22-year-old man shot and wounded a police officer guarding the government headquarters in Zagreb, killing himself afterwards.

Raspudic stressed that there was no organised political extremism in Croatia, either left or right.

He noted that the talk about "some horrible radicalisation" was a government spin designed to divert attention from crime and corruption.

Raspudic also believes that President Zoran Milanovic was right to ask that the National Security Council hold a meeting.

As for a campaign joined earlier in the day by numerous media outlets which disabled readers' comments on their web sites for two hours in order to draw attention to the problem of hate speech, Raspudic said that disabling comments was an act of censorship.

"What is being proposed in amendments to the Electronic Media Act is actually the setting of excessive norms and it is wrong," he said, adding that Bridge advocated freedom and responsibility and that it would submit its objections to the bill in first reading.

Raspudic also noted that media outlets that had joined today's campaign against hate speech had, by doing so, revealed themselves as "pro-regime media outlets", having the same goal as those wishing to restrict freedom of speech.

MP Marija Selak Raspudic, also of the Bridge parliamentary group, said that one should first deal with the issue of censorship, and then with "potential escalation of hate speech."

"As regards statements coming from the government, we want to point out that the prime minister is unwarrantably specific when criticising individual political stakeholders... calling them out even over potential future terrorism," she said.

She also criticised PM Andrej Plenkovic for being against criticism against specific media outlets while calling at the same time the entire media scene immature.

"That means that media outlets need a big daddy to teach them how to work or adopt rules that will restrict their work because they are not mature enough to assume responsibility for their actions," she said.