The Minister’s Profession: A Job Where the Key Requirement is Trust from the Prime Minister

In the context of corruption as a management system, the worst part is that it is incredibly successful', is a quote from the novel 'Shantaram', which gained great fame a few years ago due to the attractive biography of its author Gregory David Roberts. If we were to evaluate Croatian ministers based on their management of this system, they would be regarded as some of the most successful in the European Union. However, a successful minister should (have) be evaluated according to some other criteria.

The reconstruction of the government is underway. On the 'chopping block' are Tomislav Ćorić, Minister of Economy and Energy Efficiency, Nataša Tramišak, Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Vili Beroš, Minister of Health, Josip Aladrović, Minister of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, and Mario Banožić, Minister of Defense. Some may leave due to criminal proceedings, others have decided so themselves, and others have left no results behind.

But what they all have in common is that they were gathered and placed by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. There are no schools for ministers, nor are there public competitions for this position; in Croatia, the prime minister is the main mandate holder. Therefore, it might not be a bad idea at this moment to remind ourselves what criteria a minister should meet, what is expected of them, and what values they should be guided by. Just to ensure that the selection of new ministers does not complicate matters again (for Plenković, this would be the third time).

The Crime of the Conflict of Interest Law

Lider published a survey on social media in which we asked our followers what they believe is the most important characteristic of a good minister. Of the 692 respondents, 64 percent placed expertise in first place, 21 percent honesty in second, 11 percent party loyalty in third, and personal charisma in last place (four percent). The majority of respondents highlighted Zdravko Marić as the best minister (surprisingly, a non-partisan person), arguing that he is knowledgeable and probably one of the most independent ministers who knows his field well and is sufficiently confident and self-assured. The other two favorites were Radimir Čačić and Dragan Primorac.

To find out why we have the ministers we have today in the government, and why party pools are so deficient in competent people, we need to look back a bit. Slavko Linić, a former Minister of Finance who turned many interest groups against himself and his reforms, first through fiscalization, then through the pre-bankruptcy law, and finally through the property tax, notes that from the late 90s until 2010, a good portion of political personnel came from the business sector.

– These people knew business and what it means to manage systems. They had a lot of experience and then entered politics. However, when the Conflict of Interest Law was introduced, which prohibited entrepreneurs from being politically active and questioned public and economic interest, we began to lose personnel from the economy. Today, they are recruited from universities, local government units, party resources, and so on. So today, those who have established themselves in business move away from politics because they do not want to be constantly exposed to the public and criticism. For example, the only context in which Ivan Paladina, the new Minister of Construction, is discussed in public is regarding his real estate. Did he need that? I think he will soon realize he made a mistake – emphasized Linić.

Paladina himself recently stated in 'Dnevnik' on Nova TV that he is surprised by the intense scrutiny of his assets. Perhaps he embodies the very essence of the problem of political image. The Croatian public is accustomed to politicians putting their interests first; the idea of 'the common good' is something abstract, fundamentally a lie. Therefore, it is not surprising that when Paladina says he is saddened that it is not logical to anyone that someone who has amassed wealth in life comes to a position where they will earn three times less for the common good, it sounds incredible.

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