Croatia President Angers Govt, Invoking Rare Powers to Convene Parliament

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic (L) and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANTONIO BAT

As his months-long conflict with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic continues, the first-ever session of the Croatian Parliament convened by President Zoran Milanovic, using his constitutional powers, was scheduled for Friday.

Milanovic on Wednesday submitted a request for an extraordinary session on the functioning of the judiciary due to the strike that has lasted for seven weeks and on the responsibility for financial damage related to the sale of Croatian Electricity Company, HEP, gas.

Such a request is without precedent and draws on a constitutional authority never used so far, which Milanovic himself pointed out a few days ago.

“In a situation where the judiciary cannot function properly, when citizens cannot exercise their legal and constitutional rights, and when there is no will of the government to resolve such a situation, I believe an urgent reaction of the legislative authority … is needed,” the President explained.

“Since the government does not show an intention to urgently determine all the circumstances related to the resale of gas and the dubious business of HEP, and bearing in mind that part of the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, as competent for the energy sector, I believe the Croatian Parliament is the relevant institution that should hold a debate and oblige the government to urgently determine responsibility and sanction the persons responsible for the omissions,” he added in his request.

Milanovic acted after nine opposition parliamentary groups, including his own Social Democrats, sent him a formal proposal to request an extraordinary session.

The demands are that the government undertakes immediately, within 15 days at the latest, to take all necessary measures to ensure the orderly functioning of the judiciary – and also determine within 15 days which institutions and persons are responsible for the financial damage caused to HEP by the regulation on the elimination of disturbances on the domestic energy market.

The speaker of parliament, a member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, Gordan Jandrokovic, convened the parliamentary session for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, while also accusing Milanovic of hatching a “deal” with a weak and uncreative opposition.

“Since the President … is the proposer, I expect he will be present and explain his proposals at the session of the parliament,” said Jandrokovic.

“The President entered into a deal with the opposition, that is more than evident. The opposition is weak, feeble, uncreative, it called on the President, he responded, and it is clearly an agreement between the opposition and Zoran Milanovic,” he added.

However, Milanovic already ruled out turning up for the session on Thursday. “The President has no place in the parliament, what would I do there?” he asked.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the extraordinary session can discuss matters, but that the judicial officers’ strike will be resolved by the government in dialogue with the unions.

He also called Milanovic’s request to hold an extraordinary session of parliament “a political, biased and practically completely oppositional initiative”.

The conflict between Milanovic and Plenkovic has bubbled away since the beginning of Milanovic’s presidential mandate, in 2020.

Their relationship also burdens the functioning of the state, as key issues on which the President and the Prime Minister need to agree remain unresolved. The appointment of ambassadors and consuls, and of the director of the Military Security Intelligence Service, VSOA, are all on hold because of that.

Amid much mutual name-calling, most analysts believe the feud has turned into a personal conflict and is not just a  disagreement on political views.