The decision of the Constitutional Court that there are no prerequisites for calling a referendum on amendments to the Labor Law (ZOR) will result in the will of the citizens not being realized, which is a decision with far-reaching consequences, stated today the President of the Republic, Ivo Josipović.
If I were a judge of the Constitutional Court, I would have voted differently, said Josipović after today’s meeting of the Council for Social Justice, emphasizing that he does not deny the right of the judges of the Constitutional Court to their decision, as that is their constitutional authority. He recalled that in previous phases of the discussion about the referendum on amendments to the ZOR, he proposed some compromise decisions regarding the conditional calling of a referendum, as this is a very sensitive issue for Croatian society. It is a question on which a large number of citizens have clearly expressed their stance, and I believe it is a matter of respecting the will of the citizens to make reasonable decisions about it, said Josipović. The decision of the Constitutional Court does not prevent the Parliament from possibly reconsidering this issue and the idea of the so-called conditional calling of a referendum. This would support the political will of the citizens, and the Parliament and all political parties would show that they respect the will of the citizens, and social dialogue would continue, believes Josipović. He announced that he would discuss this issue with the unions, as well as with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and political parties, as it is an extremely important issue that has a significant impact on the stability of the country.
Commenting on the union announcements of protests against this decision, as well as the reaction of the Constitutional Court which accused the unions of sending “destructive messages”, the President reminded that the right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by the Constitution. “It is the constitutional right of the unions and generally of citizens to express dissatisfaction without disrupting public order,” emphasized Josipović, adding that he is not encouraging the unions to protest. When asked about possible political influence on the Constitutional Court, Josipović said that there is no evidence for that and emphasized that a selection mechanism should be established that would not raise any doubts about the political impartiality of the judges. Speaking about the “method of selection that will reaffirm the profession while minimizing political influences”, Josipović recalled that until recently we had a system that “allowed doubts in terms of political selection”, as decisions were made by a majority vote in the Parliament. The current solution is much better because a two-thirds majority guarantees to a greater extent that the elected judges enjoy support from different political options, which means they will not be clearly politically aligned. However, there are also other mechanisms to improve the method of selecting judges, especially in the proposal procedure, in the way of verifying worldviews and possible political connections, etc. I believe that Croatia has not fully developed an awareness of the need for judges of the Constitutional Court to be selected in a specially controlled manner, as judges must appear politically independent to citizens in order to gain their trust, said Josipović. (H)
