Post by MiG on Oct 30, 2009 21:15:55 GMT -5
Croatian deputy PM quits amid corruption claims
By Neil MacDonald in Belgrade
Published: October 31 2009 02:00 | Last updated: October 31 2009 02:00
Croatia's deputy prime minister resigned yesterday under mounting corruption accusations and continuing police investigations into the ruling centre-right party's former inner circle.
Damir Polancec, who oversaw the economy and the state's privatisation process since entering government five years ago, stepped down ahead of an expected no-confidence vote in parliament.
His resignation could boost Croatia's credibility in European Union accession talks , which hinge on stamping out rampant political and economic corruption.
But Mr Polancec's fall within the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the main ruling party since 2004, also adds to questions surrounding the abrupt exit of Ivo Sanader, the former prime minister who resigned in July with little explanation.
Jadranka Kosor , the new prime minister and party leader, has encouraged police and the justice ministry to look more closely at the activities of powerful HDZ members.
Mr Polancec, a loyal associate of Mr Sanader, previously worked for 12 years at Podravka, a Croatian processed-food company now embroiled in a share-buying scandal.
Police last week arrested six Podravka board members who allegedly collaborated to buy 25 per cent of the partly state-owned group from its own funds. The six are under investigation and have not been charged.
Mr Polancec, a board member in 2000-04, said: "As a man who will not abandon his principles or his friends, but also a man who understands politics, I must respond and fight for what I consider true and right."
He called his deputy premiership a "thankless role" and asked that any charges against him be made public.
On Wednesday justice officials indicted a former defence minister, Berislav Roncevic, for a questionable purchase of army trucks in 2004.
Mr Roncevic - later interior minister and the most senior suspect netted in the year-old drive against organised crime and corruption - cancelled a tender and bought the trucks directly for about $2m more than the winning bidder's price.
Mr Sanader sacked top police and justice officials in October last year amid outrage over alleged "mafia" murders in Zagreb. While he brought non-party experts on board, he and the HDZ lost further popularity in the past year's economic downturn.
The state broadcaster Croatian Radio Television (HRT) on Wednesday night, in a departure from its usual politically inoffensive broadcasting, ran a half-hour special programme on anti-corruption battles in Croatia and the EU.
Rupert Vining, a UK prosecutor and Council of Europe anti-corruption adviser, urged Croatia to go after bigger fish in order to convince citizens and the EU that its campaign was genuine.
The former Yugoslav country of 4.5m people aims to join the bloc by 2012.
By Neil MacDonald in Belgrade
Published: October 31 2009 02:00 | Last updated: October 31 2009 02:00
Croatia's deputy prime minister resigned yesterday under mounting corruption accusations and continuing police investigations into the ruling centre-right party's former inner circle.
Damir Polancec, who oversaw the economy and the state's privatisation process since entering government five years ago, stepped down ahead of an expected no-confidence vote in parliament.
His resignation could boost Croatia's credibility in European Union accession talks , which hinge on stamping out rampant political and economic corruption.
But Mr Polancec's fall within the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the main ruling party since 2004, also adds to questions surrounding the abrupt exit of Ivo Sanader, the former prime minister who resigned in July with little explanation.
Jadranka Kosor , the new prime minister and party leader, has encouraged police and the justice ministry to look more closely at the activities of powerful HDZ members.
Mr Polancec, a loyal associate of Mr Sanader, previously worked for 12 years at Podravka, a Croatian processed-food company now embroiled in a share-buying scandal.
Police last week arrested six Podravka board members who allegedly collaborated to buy 25 per cent of the partly state-owned group from its own funds. The six are under investigation and have not been charged.
Mr Polancec, a board member in 2000-04, said: "As a man who will not abandon his principles or his friends, but also a man who understands politics, I must respond and fight for what I consider true and right."
He called his deputy premiership a "thankless role" and asked that any charges against him be made public.
On Wednesday justice officials indicted a former defence minister, Berislav Roncevic, for a questionable purchase of army trucks in 2004.
Mr Roncevic - later interior minister and the most senior suspect netted in the year-old drive against organised crime and corruption - cancelled a tender and bought the trucks directly for about $2m more than the winning bidder's price.
Mr Sanader sacked top police and justice officials in October last year amid outrage over alleged "mafia" murders in Zagreb. While he brought non-party experts on board, he and the HDZ lost further popularity in the past year's economic downturn.
The state broadcaster Croatian Radio Television (HRT) on Wednesday night, in a departure from its usual politically inoffensive broadcasting, ran a half-hour special programme on anti-corruption battles in Croatia and the EU.
Rupert Vining, a UK prosecutor and Council of Europe anti-corruption adviser, urged Croatia to go after bigger fish in order to convince citizens and the EU that its campaign was genuine.
The former Yugoslav country of 4.5m people aims to join the bloc by 2012.
Source: www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e886b586-c5bd-11de-9b3b-00144feab49a.html
I believe it stems from an unclear agenda and a confused bureaucracy. What they need is a strongman/woman to clear the air and actually pass a few beneficial laws. Not a dictator! But someone who knows how to modernize a nation. We don't have that, so the best we can hope for is a president who can improve the country marginally.