Non-renewal of Goran Matešić’s mandate ’causes conflict’ between the Government and the opposition

Parliamentary clubs supported the report on the work of the Commission for the Control of Public Procurement in 2007. However, representatives pointed out that this commission has authority only over a narrow segment of public procurements. Although the public procurement system is still far from ideal, the number of appeals is decreasing.

However, the percentage of accepted appeals remains high at 43 percent, što means that there are still illegalities in the implementation of public procurement. In this context, representatives raised the inevitable question of corruption – on which they have different opinions, with SDP member Josip Leko stating that there can be no successful fight against corruption while connections are more important than knowledge, entrepreneurial initiative, and honesty in the public procurement system or in privatization. Andrija Hebrang (HDZ) emphasized that Croatia has made the largest leap on the Transparency International corruption perception index, with its score rising from 3.4 to 4.4 over the past two years. He also noted that the Commission’s powers will be expanded by the end of the year, meaning it will also be responsible for concessions and public-private partnerships. The parliamentary opposition fiercely attacked the Government for deciding not to extend the mandate of the President of the Commission for the Control of Public Procurement, Goran Matešić. HDZ members responded that this is Matešić’s personal choice. “Who is crazy here, everyone supports the Commission’s report, everyone praises its work, and we are dismissing its president,” said Ingrid Antičević-Marinović (SDP), commenting on the fact that the Government proposes that Matešić be replaced in the next five-year term by Vlasta Pavličević, a legal advisor for property and legal affairs in the central office of the Tax Administration. In response to the opposition’s attacks, HDZ member Andrija Hebrang read a letter that Matešić sent to the Government in early September. In the letter, Matešić emphasizes that he believes he has done his job at the head of the Commission and that he wishes to engage in other activities, not excluding work in the civil service.

Additionally, the Parliament discussed the proposed law on private detectives. This law aims to prescribe the conditions for performing detective activities and jobs, the authority to issue permits for conducting activities and permissions for performing detective jobs, as well as the manner of conducting detective work. This proposed law would allow the performance of detective activities by craftsmen and all forms of commercial companies, while according to the current provisions of the Law on the Protection of Persons and Property, this activity can only be performed by craftsmen and partnerships (limited and public trading companies). All parliamentary clubs agree that the proposal of this law is vague and should be further clarified in the second reading, emphasizing that special attention should be paid to the protection of human rights.

Boris Šprem from SDP warned that the current legislative proposal is not precise in determining which police activities a private detective is not allowed to perform or whom they can protect from eavesdropping. Tomislav Čuljak from HDZ emphasized that the conditions and methods for performing private detective activities should be more specifically prescribed. Miljenko Dorić from HNS stated that a strong influence of the security lobby is visible in the reading of the law. Among other things, he noted that the definition of detective activity omitted the collection of evidence, which is crucial in legal claims. Stanko Grčić from HSS highlighted the importance of security checks for private detectives and the protection of the reputation of the detective profession, which has so far been practiced by those who previously worked in the police, military, or state attorney’s office. It was also proposed that the behavior of private detectives be determined by a special ethical code, as prescribed by the Minister of the Interior. (HRT)