"It is unacceptable that the parliament should find itself in a situation that it has to be an arbiter in cases such as Stipe Cacija or the secretary of General Petar Stipetic," said Pero Kovacevic of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) referring to scandals when pensions of this kind were granted to the said persons.
Kovacevic also announced his party's initiative to revoke the legal provision under which convicts who have to serve over three years in jail must be stripped of their ranks. "This means that by force of this law General Blaskic should be stripped of his rank, although he earned it in the war," the HSP MP said referring to the case of General Tihomir Blaskic who was found guilty by the UN tribunal of the inhumane treatment of POWs and sentenced to nine years in prison.
During a parliamentary debate on LIBRA's motion for the abolishment of the mandatory military service, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the HSP deputies assessed the proposal as premature.
Libra's motion was in principle supported by the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), and Istrian Democratic Alliance (IDS) representatives said they supported it unreservedly.
Libra leader Jozo Rados rejected claims that the annulment of conscription would undermine national security and safety, saying that Croatia had strong reserve forces consisting of several hundred thousand people who had gained experience in the Homeland Defence War.
Earlier in the day opposition parties strongly criticised the government's motion to amend the law on the government's powers while the parliament is not in session. Opposition MPs feared a possibility that the government could regulate some issues with decrees while the Sabor is in recess could mean the expansion of the government's legislative powers.
Justice Ministry State Secretary Antun Palaric, however, explained that in the said periods the government would address issues mainly from the economic sector when it is necessary to react quickly. Palaric added that the government would inform MPs of the adopted decrees at the very first next session of the Sabor.
Opposition MPs said they were opposed to the changes as this could jeopardise the tripartite division of power between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary as defined by the Constitution.