Minister of Economy Đuro Popijač Becomes Member of HDZ

The ruling HDZ has gained another member as of today. Namely, Đuro Popijač, the Minister of Economy, has become a member today.

„It is true that Popijač has joined our party. He recently filled out the application, and today, at the meeting of the HDZ Club of Representatives, the party president Jadranka Kosor handed him his membership card,“ said HDZ spokesperson Sunčana Glavak. Popijač himself confirmed this information to us this evening.„I am a minister in the Government. I took on this position at a time when it was perhaps the most difficult, so this is a logical sequence of events. We all wish to revive the Croatian economy, and politics should contribute to that,“ emphasized Popijač.

Popijač entered Kosor’s Government at the end of last year, when he replaced Damir Polančec as Minister of Economy. Prior to that, he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) and entered the Government as a non-partisan individual. The HDZ states that they have not assigned any party function to their new member, but they are satisfied with his engagement as Minister of Economy. They say he accepted the position in the ministry that belongs to the HDZ quota according to the coalition agreement, which has brought him less money than he had as one of the leading figures of employers, and it is clear that he believes in the Government’s program that he is implementing. Despite this, it seems that a significant job awaits Popijač in the HDZ.

The largest party in Croatia is quite „thin“ when it comes to prominent members from the economic milieu: the only media-exposed members dealing with the economy are Ivan Šuker, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Goran Marić, a member of parliament, as well as Borislav Škegro, who has withdrawn from daily politics. Therefore, it is not surprising that the HDZ sees Popijač’s arrival under their party’s wing as a reinforcement of their economic team, and they hope that his example could be followed by other prominent entrepreneurs and economists. The timing of Popijač’s entry into the HDZ is also interesting, occurring in an election year. Other parties are already writing their economic programs for the upcoming elections, which will undoubtedly focus on the economic situation in the country. It is realistic to expect that the HDZ will soon take on this task, to which Popijač should contribute. (www.jutarnji.hr)