The political groups in the Croatian Parliament on Thursday discussed the proposal by the President of the Republic for law professor Zlata Djurdjevic to be nominated as President of the Supreme Court.

All the political groups stuck to their earlier views, with the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) saying that they would not vote for Djurdjevic because she had ignored the law and the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) claiming that the ruling majority did not want her because she was independent.

“The fact that she did not respond to the public call is not against the law, but to propose someone who did not participate in a public call is against the law and such a candidate cannot come before the Croatian Parliament,” HDZ MP Drazen Bosnjakovic said.

That would mean that the people who did respond to the public call and wrote their programmes are not in an equal position, he added.

“The HDZ wants to see at the helm of the Supreme Court a qualified, competent person, one commanding respect. In order to get such a person, we should encourage people who fulfil these criteria. We want a public call that people will not be afraid to respond to, where at least 10 relevant candidates will apply,” Bosnjakovic said.

Anyone aspiring to the position of Supreme Court President cannot ignore the law and agree to be nominated without having participated in a public call and having written a program, the HDZ lawmaker said.

SDP leader Pedja Grbin said that Djurdjevic does not suit the ruling coalition because she is not part of the judicial elite, she does not want to be the HDZ’s item and because the ruling coalition do not want the situation in the judiciary to improve. The HDZ don’t care about Croatia, he stressed.

“Djurdjevic is independent. She won’t have Pedja, Zoran (Milanovic) or Andrej (Plenkovic) tell her what to do and influence her decisions. That’s the main reason why the ruling majority do not back her,” Grbin said, praising Djurdjevic as a professional, qualified and competent person.

Grbin said that the very choice of Supreme Court President cannot change the situation in the judiciary but can start changing it.

Anka Mrak-Taritas of the GLAS and Centre group said that the discussion of Djurdjevic was actually a discussion of “whether we are ready to take a step forward” to improve the situation in the judiciary.

“Djurdjevic is not a person who can be controlled or blackmailed. The prime minister is scared of her independence and there is no way she will be accepted. The public can now see how this is done – we will drag a clean person through the mud,” Mrak-Taritas said.

Dalija Oreskovic (Centre) added that this poorly reasoned discussion would discourage all qualified people from applying to public calls in the future.

Djurdjevic was also backed by the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS), whose Marin Lerotic said that the debate on the Supreme Court was a depiction of the situation in the judiciary and of legal loopholes.

Hrvoje Zekanovic (Croatian Sovereignists) reiterated that he would not vote for Đurđević because she had violated the procedure, describing her as an exponent of the neoliberal world-views and policies of “Zoran Milanovic, Grbin, Bencic, Tomasevic and the like.”

His party colleague Zeljko Sacic said that Sime Savic was a more acceptable candidate, adding that President Zoran Milanovic had infected Djurdjevic with his “bullying style”.

Stephen Nikola Bartulica (Homeland Movement) said that they disagreed with Djurdjevic that the problems in the judiciary originated in the 1990s, adding that the main causes dated from before the 1990s and were the legacy of communism.

Nikola Grmoja (Bridge) did not take a firm stand, saying that “eventually we will get a candidate agreed by the HDZ and the SDP” and Bridge will not support them.

“There’s this myth that the appointment of Zlata Djurdjevic will lead to an end to corruption, to a victory over the corrupt structures and to a showdown with the corrupt judges, but that’s not true. Change will occur only after a change in mentality,” Grmoja said.

He said that a new public call should be issued and the President of the Republic should conduct consultations so that the President of the Supreme Court could be chosen.

Sandra Bencic (Green-Left Bloc) said that Djurdjevic was not good for the ruling parties because she had agreed to be President Milanovic’s candidate.

“In Croatian society there are people who are excellent in their professions, who have received many honours, who demonstrate an extremely high level of integrity and independence to show what the judiciary could be like. We have a great opportunity for change and that’s why the HDZ nipped it in the bud,” Bencic said.

Bencic called the Sovereignists and the Homeland Movement “appendages to the HDZ”, which offended Sacic and Zekanovic, and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said that it was not fair to call someone an appendage just because they expressed their political views.