Members of parliament on Tuesday discussed the resignation of Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuscevic, with the opposition saying he was not the only one, and the ruling HDZ party responding that they would not be lectured on morals by those who did not have the right to do so.

“If Kuscevic were the only one, that would be news, but he isn’t,” said Mirando Mrsic on behalf of the HSS-Democrats caucus.

The HDZ holds Croatia firmly in “the shackles of conflict of interest, corruption and nepotism” which began with former president and HDZ leader Franjo Tudjman in the 1990s, he added.

Kuscevic resigned last night as public administration minister and HDZ political secretary in the wake of alleged scandals involving real estate on the island of Brac.

Mrsic said Kuscevic resigned “only because he let himself be caught and so as not to compromise other compromised ministers and the prime minister, who knows everything and is doing nothing about it.”

Mrsic said Labour and Pension System Minister Marko Pavic, Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolusic, Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Gabrijela Zalac, and State Assets Minister Goran Maric should also resign because of the scandals they were involved them.

He called them “vermin that are irreversibly destroying the future of this country, and they are all protected by the prime minister who is fighting tooth and nail to land a job outside of Croatia.” He said it was time PM Andrej Plenkovic resigned and that “elections are Croatia’s only option.”

Bozo Petrov of the Bridge caucus said Plenkovic “can do what he wants but not as long as he wants.” He said Kuscevic did not resign out of political and moral responsibility but to minimise the media damage his case was causing the HDZ.

“One gets the impression that Kuscevic is leaving as an innocent man who doesn’t deserve any criticism, and this is the message this government is sending,” Petrov said, wondering how a person who was not honorable enough to be a minister was honorable enough to be an MP.

“The Croatian parliament is not a reformatory,” he said, adding that what Kuscevic had done was unacceptable and that the people would be able to have its say in elections.

The rest of us have to show citizens that corruption and clientelism cannot rule Croatia. That must end. We either stamp out corruption and clientelism or we eventually disappear as a nation, Petrov said.

Bacic: Moralists use defamation to inflict political damage on the HDZ and the government

Speaking on behalf of the HDZ caucus, Branko Bacic said the “usual moralists in parliament” were using defamation and unfounded accusations to inflict political damage on the HDZ, the government and the prime minister, but “they won’t succeed.”

He asked Mrsic where his “moral standards were” when his wife, while he served as a minister, “owed a huge amount” to the Croatian Health Insurance Fund. “Why didn’t you talk then about moral standards and concern for state interests and, as a sign of responsibility, resign?”

Bacic accused Petrov of having tried to change the statute of Croatian Waters so that he could appoint a close friend to the company. “One should have the same approach and not demonise someone while passing over one’s own sins as though they never happened.”

He said it did not matter when Kuscevic resigned but that the HDZ was setting high standards in Croatian politics. “But we won’t allow those without the moral right to do so, to attack the HDZ and give us moral slaps on the wrist here.”