President Milanović in Sisak Says that Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Is not Proceeding Well
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović visited Sisak and, in the company of the mayor of the City of Sisak Kristina Ikić Baniček and her deputies Marko Krička and Ivica Rendulić, toured the parts of the city that sustained damage in the earthquake. During the course of the tour the city officials acquainted President Milanović with the damage and the current situation in the field.
After touring the city centre, President Milanović told reporters it is his fourth visit to Sisak since the earthquake to see for himself the pace at which reconstruction is taking place. In a reply to a reporter regarding the pace of the reconstruction in Sisak President Milanović said: “Nothing is happening, that’s what the mayor said. They would want better and more, it’s up to me to listen, to warn. She’s struggling and knows better than I do. She feels that things can be quicker”, the President noted.
He warned that work is not yet under way in the post-earthquake reconstruction in Zagreb. “I know at least ten people who got started on their own in the hope that they will be reimbursed through various programmes. That should have been resolved long ago, but hasn’t”, President Milanović said. Asked who is to blame for nothing being done in terms of reconstruction, the President answered “the one who’s in charge of the treasury”.
Reporters were interested in the President’s view on the initiative of Justice Marin Mrčela who said that the president of the Supreme Court should be elected by judges alone. “As President of the Republic I don’t see myself in the role of someone proposing amendments to the Constitution, but in the role of someone who defends and protects the Constitution, which is in force and to which I swore an oath. Where did the judge get the idea to go on TV to promote political views? Those are political views. In the European Union, the way, the method and the hierarchy in the election of judges vary from state to state, therefore the judge and all the others should read it carefully and will see that there’s no unique model”, the President of the Republic stated.
He finds the initiative of Justice Mrčela absolutely pointless. “Therefore, according to the Justice, politicizing is when someone like me who’s nonpartisan proposes someone who’s nonpartisan. The idea that judges appear in prime time and talk about how the Croatian Constitution should look, and which they have violated several times thus far, I consider very dangerous, because that judge has much more authority than I do”, President Milanović underlined, and concluded “let experts start dealing with matters that actually belong to the profession”.
Accompanying President Milanović in his tour of Sisak were the Adviser of the President for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić and the Special Adviser for the Economy Velibor Mačkić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan