Pupovac: Croatia Insufficiently Opposes Issues That Slow Down Society

The president of SDSS and parliamentary representative Milorad Pupovac stated on Saturday that Croatia insufficiently opposes issues that slow down society, such as retrograde ideological phenomena, the denial of civil rights and freedoms, and clerical and nationalistic understandings of society.

– The issues that slow down society are ‘a more decisive no’ to retrograde ideological phenomena in society, where instead of civil freedoms and rights we cautiously approach those who would deny civil rights and freedoms and return us to pre-modern times with their clerical, nationalistic understanding and organization of society, said Pupovac in the Weekly Interview of Croatian Radio.

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– Instead of decisively defending the values of antifascism as most countries in Europe do, we yield and retreat towards those who would revitalize the defeated forces of World War II, he asserted.

Pupovac added that we also yield to various clientelist groups in society instead of seriously addressing the issues of healthcare, education, justice reform, and the construction of economic policy.

Regarding the recommendations of the Commission for Dealing with the Past, Pupovac said that instead of improving things and providing solutions, it has worsened matters.

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– We have come to a situation where we now have people who are part of that commission saying that antifascism should be removed from the Constitution and who openly advocate a kind of sanitized, washed defeated politics of Ante Pavelić and the NDH, said Pupovac. On the other hand, he says, we have a situation where the Commission actually proposes the legalization of the Ustaša salute ‘For Home Ready’.

Pupovac emphasized that the Council’s recommendations are not only non-binding but for him absolutely unacceptable. Regarding the Istanbul Convention, Pupovac said that it is a matter of defending civil values and freedoms and progress in realizing the rights of a group of citizens – women and girls who are still endangered in various ways in Croatian society.

– All those who say that this is a story about gender ideology are actually spreading a mantra with which they would like to abolish civil growth and the expansion of civil rights and freedoms, which they would like to limit the constitutional state and impose values that have nothing to do with a modern state, believes Pupovac.

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Speaking about Agrokor and the change of management, the president of SDSS said that what needed to be done has been done and what was very early visible as a weak point, which is the issue of extraordinary commissioner Ante Ramljak and how he was appointed, and how the team was formed and advisors were chosen.

– With the change of the extraordinary management, necessary steps have been taken and that sounds positive, he said.

Regarding the moral-political aspect of the matter, Pupovac emphasized that he must say that damage has been done – to the Government and the ruling coalition, and when damage is done, one must think about responsibility.

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To the direct question of whether SDSS is ready to support the opposition’s request for the recall of Martina Dalić, Pupovac answered ambiguously.

– Since I am part of the ruling majority, I cannot behave like the opposition, but I can behave as a responsible member of the ruling coalition and as one who understands that if something has been done as damage, then that should be a topic and if it is a problem, that problem should be resolved, he said.

He added that SDSS representatives will decide how to proceed. “What is now quite clear to us – we are part of the ruling coalition and we behave accordingly, but also in accordance with a sense of responsibility for what we do or someone else in the ruling coalition.”