Nobody needed a new corruption scandal, Croatia and its citizens least of all, Racan said, adding that one could not come out of the scandal by making insinuations about and insulting those who wanted clear answers as (Prime Minister Ivo) Sanader and the people around him were doing.
He said the SDP did not care which of the two bidders would win in the privatisation of the drugs company, Barr or Actavis.
He also said that until now Sanader had not mentioned that the reason for the privatisation was to settle the state's debt to pensioners. "We feel it is disgraceful that Sanader is dragging pensioners into a corruption scandal as is his claim that the SDP is obstructing the payment of the debt to pensioners." He recalled that the SDP had been the first to condemn the HDZ's deception of pensioners and serviced half of the debt.
Asked if he had any information regarding allegations that Pliva CEO Zeljko Covic had gone to Verona a second time, Racan said "we will allegedly receive answers". Covic, Sanader and HDZ MP Miomir Zuzul were reportedly involved in secret negotiations on the sale of Pliva in Verona in June this year.
Asked what was unlawful in the sale of Pliva, Racan said the SDP had already asked why Sanader initially claimed the state would not sell its shares in Pliva, then after the Verona meeting said it would, then said the price would not be crucial, only to claim that the outcome would depend on the highest bid.
"We are warning about the lack of transparence which is politically unacceptable and we leave suspicions to competent bodies. We have not received answers to our questions and I think it is time we do, without attention being diverted to unimportant issues."
Asked if there existed material evidence about unlawfulness, Racan reiterated the SDP expected clear answers and would then "decide about future political conduct".
"If governments fall only because of criminal acts, they are not good in democracy. Governments fall also because of moral and political crimes," he said.
The Croatian People's Party (HNS) too urged the PM to say why he first claimed the government would not sell its shares in Pliva and then said it would, and also to say why parliamentary parties had not been informed about the sale of the state's interest in such an important company.
The HNS said in a statement Sanader was evading answers by claiming that insinuations about Pliva's sale brought into question the payment of the debt to pensions, and added that such claims confirmed that Pliva's sale was discussed at a secret meeting in Verona.