President Milanović on Zlata Đurđević Being Rejected for the Post of Supreme Court President: They Didn’t Want Someone who’s Independent

After attending the formal session of the Town Council of Ploče, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović commented on today’s vote in the Croatian Parliament at which his proposal to recommend Zlata Đurđević as President of the Supreme Court was rejected.

“I wonder where nearly thirty Members of Parliament were. Because we’ve seen the day before in the European Parliament when there’s a vote, all the members are present. Here at home some of the people get lost. They shouldn’t be doing that. Therefore, thirty people were missing”, President Milanović said. Asked to comment on the result of the vote, President Milanović replied: “The candidate didn’t pass. We’ll have to move on. Therefore, the HDZ and that clique didn’t want someone who’s independent, they intimidated her, insulted her, made insinuations, and then openly lied about her connection with Lex Perković. Those are all lies, so I am actually delighted with Professor Đurđević’s character and mental strength. I am grateful to her for having accepted to participate in the process because you have to have a backbone and shoulders and a head for something like that”, President Milanović stated.

Since the President of the Supreme Court has not been elected, President Milanović added that someone from the system will have to be interim president for the time being. “Therefore, once again the internal clique will decide on who will be the president. A new institution of public call has now been introduced, which is totally unconstitutional, it even prevents me from discussing this beforehand with the Prime Minister, and which I have announced in due time. Now we’ll see what, who and how they’ll do it. The destruction of the state, the destruction of the Constitution, that’s what the HDZ is. They’re destroying Croatia, that’s what they’re doing”, President Milanović concluded.