The government will, as things currently stand in the personnel puzzle, gain another Deputy Prime Minister. Borislav Škegro is most likely to step into Polančec’s position, having already held the same role in the former HDZ government (‘enriched’ by the position of Minister of Finance).
The government’s puzzle now anticipates two new deputy ministerial positions. The new (second) deputy will, however, be Darko Milinović, who has evidently proven capable in the ministerial position. The ‘economic’ ministerial chair could go to the first HUP member Đuro Popijač, although he still claims that no one has discussed this with him. If it is true that Škegro demanded oversight over finance, economy, construction, and agriculture, it means that ministers Šuker, Čobanković, Matulović-Dropulić, and the likely new Minister of Economy Popijač would be subordinate to him. This is awkward considering that they are more or less (except for Popijač) Sanader’s players. The return of Škegro to the ‘battlefield’ shows that the balance of power in the HDZ is changing and that the star of the former Prime Minister (who has recently suggested a return to politics) is slowly dimming. However, what can a former minister and Deputy Prime Minister do in a crisis when he did not show ten years ago that he knows how to save? At the time when VAT was introduced, the state was swimming in surplus money. Yet even then, nothing was set aside for rainy days. Perhaps he has learned this as a businessman in the meantime. (G. G.)
