"The bill is nothing but a pacifier because it does not enable citizens electing local leaders in direct elections to replace them," Leko said in the continuation of a debate on two bills on the direct election of county prefects, the mayor of Zagreb, other mayors and municipal heads. The bills were proposed by the government and the Croatian People's Party/Primorje-Gorski Kotar Alliance (HNS/PGS).
Leko believes that citizens should be enabled to directly elect bodies of authority to supervise and replace elected leaders and prevent "tycoons and those who acquired wealth in the privatisation process from buying those who let themselves be bought and securing for themselves direct influence on local authorities".
Deputies of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) believe that the government's proposal, once completed in the second reading, would prevent post-electoral trade and take into account the citizens' wish to directly elect their local governments.
The government's bill is the first step in strengthening local self-government units and launching a comprehensive reform of the election legislation, said Niko Rebic of the HDZ, calling on the government to submit as soon as possible a proposal on a comprehensive reform of the election legislation.
As in the past two days, the opposition criticised the HDZ for bribing councillors after the last local elections, pointing the finger at Economy Minister and leader of the HDZ branch in Karlovac, Branko Vukelic, over an agreement he signed with councillors of the local Pensioners' Party (HSU).
Vladimir Jelkovac of the HDZ dismissed the criticisms, saying that the agreement with the HSU in Karlovac granted pensioners free public transport and shorter deadlines for specialist check-ups, as well as that funds from the city budget were not intended only for the HSU but all parties which had entered the city council.
Both bills envisage two-round elections of local leaders, with candidates winning more than a half of the votes in the first round becoming county prefects, mayors and municipal heads. If none of the candidates wins such support, two most successful candidates enter the second election round.
The government and the HNS interpret the incompatibility of duties differently - while the government believes that along with other officials, the parliament speaker and his deputies should not be elected into local self-government units, the HNS/PGS bench also proposes banning all parliamentary deputies from holding posts in local self-government units.
While the majority of MPs believe that the direct election of local officials would restore the citizens' trust in the election system, Pero Kovacevic of the Party of Rights (HSP) has doubts.
"If we elect local leaders directly, why should not we do so when it comes to the election of the prime minister, ministers and the parliament speaker, who under certain circumstances can stand in for president of the republic," Kovacevic said.
Josip Leko of the SDP warned that the proposed bills did not provide for mechanisms of control of directly elected leaders.