Opposition leaders said on Tuesday they were glad all MPs would be able to take part in the parliament's work and not just one in four, as previously defined by the "epidemiological rules of procedure" which were recently invalidated by the Constitutional Court.
Opposition leaders expressed their satisfaction after attending a session of the parliamentary presidency.
Social Democratic Party (SDP) deputy whip Sabina Glasovac said she was glad agreement had been reached on how to make it possible for all MPs to perform their duties in the current coronavirus pandemic in line with the parliament’s rules of procedure and the Constitution.
She recalled that her party had supported all measures introduced during the spring lockdown but noted that the right to make a reply, which had not been negotiated, had not been provided, which was why the SDP and other opposition parties approached the Constitutional Court, asking it to revise the new rules of procedure so that all MPs could work normally.
“… I hope that as of next Tuesday already we will be working normally in these abnormal conditions because there is a lot of work ahead… with all the current problems…. we need to be fast and efficient,” said Glasovac.
She said that among the jobs to be done was a motion to extend the current moratorium on loan payment, which the SDP had submitted with the We Can! platform, as well as about 20 other bills proposing improvements of laws related to the business and health sectors.
Whether they will be submitted anew is to be decided by the SDP presidency on Thursday, she said.
“Our invitation to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic still stands, we expect him to invite representatives of all parliamentary parties to a meeting at which they would discuss solutions to prevent the loss of jobs and help the business sector weather this crisis as easily as possible,” Glasovac said, noting also that one must not forget the poor, the homeless, and women – victims of violence.
“The prime minister should finally grow up, accept the Opposition’s proposal to sit down together because these are not only the HDZ’s or the government’s problems, even though the government is the most responsible. The Opposition wants to offer solutions and help pull the country out of the crisis that is yet to come,” she said.
Bartulica: Presidency session constructive
Homeland Movement deputy whip Stjepo Bartulica said that the discussion at today’s session of the parliamentary presidency was constructive and held in the spirit of good cooperation.
All MPs need to be equal and epidemiological measures have to be complied with, and even though this is not the most elegant solution, I hope it will function, he said, explaining that there had been proposals to move the parliament to a bigger space but they were scrapped for fear that they would send a bad message to the public.
Everyone agreed that it would be best to stay in the parliament building as long as possible, Bartulica said, adding that a new lockdown was out of the question and that strict measures were already in force.
Tomasevic: Frustration about the way parliament works
The head of the green-left bloc, Tomislav Tomasevic, said that as new MPs they were rather frustrated about the way the parliament functioned, noting that this was not only due to the epidemic but was a long-lasting problem that has resulted in citizens giving the parliament the lowest grade of all state institutions.
The parliament hall was empty even before the epidemic and now it seems that some MPs are using the epidemic to cover up their inactivity or the absence of their colleagues, said Tomasevic, adding that his platform was eager to propose concrete solutions both for the current health crisis and for the green recovery plan.
