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Will Sanader Activate His Mandate?

Today marks the end of the moratorium on the activation of the parliamentary mandate of former Prime Minister, former honorary president, and former member of HDZ, Ivo Sanader. If he decides to return to the Parliament, his seat would have to be vacated by representative Željana Kalaš, reports the portal hrt.hr

Sanader withdrew from his position as Prime Minister, party president, and active politics altogether on July 1, without explanation. The Parliament decided on the suspension of his mandate on July 9, which came into effect on July 15. He announced his return to politics in early January, following the results of the presidential elections in which the HDZ candidate Andrija Hebrang did not advance to the second round. At that time, he criticized the party’s leadership at a press conference. Subsequently, he was expelled from membership due to irreparable damage and violations of the HDZ Statute.
 
Media speculated that by activating his mandate, he would attempt to persuade and gain the support of other parliamentary representatives to bring down the government of Jadranka Kosor. About ten days ago, the Vice President of the Parliament, Vladimir Šeks, indirectly conveyed to Sanader that activating his parliamentary mandate would not be a politically wise decision. Sanader’s position in the Parliament would be unsustainable due to the situation he found himself in. He would be exposed to attacks from the opposition, which would be difficult for him to withstand, Šeks stated after a meeting of the Prime Minister with coalition partners in Banski dvori.

He said that he had not been in contact with Sanader and had no information on whether he would activate his mandate in the Parliament. However, he stated that he does not believe that more than two to three representatives could obstruct the party’s decisions in the Parliament. A parliamentary and state crisis has been avoided, as well as the prerequisites for early elections. Practically speaking, that faction of HDZ representatives cannot minimally threaten either the coalition or the government, emphasized Šeks. (www.hrt.hr)