A good first impression can only be made once. Šuker, Popijač, and Škegro did not shine in their initial appearances. It is hard to believe that they are ready for a radical change in economic policy.
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Written by: Miodrag Šajatović |
Šuker remains arrogant and does not acknowledge reality, Popijač quickly loses revolutionary enthusiasm, and Škegro is preoccupied with justifying his past actions. |
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What is it? Are you softening with age? How benevolent you are towards Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and her ministers! You even praised Škegro!? – were the well-meaning questions from a friend, a regular reader of this column. Perhaps this comes with age. One gets tired of the same situation. Arrogance above all That is why one wishes to believe that there is still some chance that a miracle will happen and that the Prime Minister’s new lineup (Šuker as Deputy Prime Minister, Popijač instead of Polančec as Minister of Economy, and the advisory trio Škegro-Lovrinčević-Švaljek) will make a turn towards a ‘new development model’. A good first impression can only be made once. And the reformed economic part of Jadranka Kosor’s cabinet missed that opportunity. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ivan Šuker continued to arrogantly assert to critics of external borrowing that the fact that American investors subscribed to Croatian bonds is a sign that the national economy is healthy and promising. That is ‘spinning’ from the time of Ivo Sanader. It is shown how naive it was to hope that Šuker had spoken as he did all these years – because he was executing orders from the then Prime Minister. Sanader is no longer his boss, but the rhetoric remains the same. A Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the economy who publicly denies that the country is in an extremely difficult situation cannot lead changes. Furthermore, Šuker took over firefighting equipment from Polančec. So, at the first sign of the usual troublemakers and extortionists from Kutina’s Petrokemija, he received their delegation and promised them that the gas supply would not be interrupted. Petrokemija has had unrealistically low gas prices for years, which are indirectly paid by the citizens of Croatia. Supposedly, this is so that farmers in Croatia can have cheaper artificial fertilizer. And in the end, it turns out that it is cheaper in Slovenia! By yielding to the Defense Headquarters of Petrokemija, Šuker sent a signal to others that he would be accommodating to all kinds of pressures. The new Minister of Economy Đuro Popijač also failed to leave a good first impression. In his first public appearance, he still mentioned that he would work on a new economic development model. A day or two later, he was already saying on television that it is not good to lay off people from the state administration because then demand for goods will fall. Defense of a better past Neither advisor Borislav Škegro left a good first impression. In his column in Večernji list, he continued to mock those who claim that the long-standing economic policy favored imports and that the import lobby prevents the development of domestic production. The famous John Maynard Keynes once stated that in changed circumstances, he changes his opinion. And he was not ashamed. There is no single economic truth. Some recipes are better in some times, and others in different times. If Škegro, as an advisor to Jadranka Kosor, continues to defend his past actions more and thinks less about how to get out of the debt crisis and recession – there will be little benefit for citizens and entrepreneurs. From the advisory trio, the Prime Minister actually needs only answers to the questions: how to repay old debts, not increase borrowing, and start achieving sustainable growth rates? What sacrifices need to be made and within what timeframe? |
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