MPs on Monday criticised the fact that the Conflict of Interest Commission had already opened a second case against Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic, with even his coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, saying they were mistakes it hoped would not happen again.

The Commission opened the second case over the appointment of Tomislav Lauc, who contributed HRK 10,000 to Tomasevic’s mayoral campaign, to the Srebrnjak Hospital’s Steering Council.

Sandra Benčić of Tomasevic’s We Can! party told the press that they selected people based on expertise and objectivity.

“We talked to a number of people and it’s difficult to find someone because that person is not motivated by money, given that Steering Council members, based on the minister’s decision, receive a monthly fee of HRK 700-750 (€100). Lauc agreed to that because he cares about the realisation of programmes and projects at Srebrnjak. He was also a contributor to our campaign, but over 1,000 people were contributors. Does this fact disqualify them all?”

Bencic admitted that “it’s impossible to avoid someone knowing someone because if we do that, we must rule out every person who has been connected with anyone from the management.”

She said “Tomasevic and Lauc first met during protests in Varsavska Street but were not friends,” state agency Hina reported, without explaining what protests Bencic was referring to.

Bencic “conceded the mistake” of hiring notary public Ljubica Caklovic, another donor to Tomasević’s campaign and sister of Ratko Bajakic, who sits on the supervisory board of the Zagreb Holding utility conglomerate.

“When we hired her, we really didn’t know about the kinship. We urgently needed a notary public and she was recommended, and it was important to us that she hadn’t worked with the City of Zagreb and Holding. That was a mistake,” said Bencic.

Mario Kapulica of the ruling HDZ said the City Assembly would soon debate the reconfiguration of city departments and the appointment of their new heads.

We will closely follow the debate and won’t forget the debate on the Government Act when, we know how, MPs of the Green-Left Coalition and the opposition commented on the reduction of the number of ministries, belittling such decisions, he added.

Stephen Bartulica of the opposition Homeland Movement said the Green-Left Coalition promised a lot during the mayoral campaign and was now faced with reality, having to run the city and make concrete decisions. The way Tomasevic’s term started doesn’t instill confidence, he added.

Zvonimir Troskot of the opposition Bridge said the city administration’s moves were not transparent.

A recent example is the appointment of Lauc, a person who was one of Tomasevic’s major contributors. That’s the opposite of everything Tomasevic was saying during the campaign and a confirmation of the paradigm we watched in the city administration, he added.