In line with his constitutional powers, President Mesic has suggested that the government adopt a decree-law at its last session this year and that the parliament adopt, under urgent procedure, a law extending the deadline for the audit of the ownership transformation and privatisation process.
Mesic recalls in his letter that the deadline for the audit of the privatisation process expires at the end of this year, as envisaged by the Law on the Audit of the Ownership Transformation and Privatisation Process. He says that his proposal was prompted solely by the failure of relevant institutions to act in time.
Mesic claims that the audit was unsuccessful because of judicial inefficiency, and that the 2003 report of the State Audit Office covering the period from 1990 to 2000 revealed a number of irregularities, expiry of the statute of limitations and failure to appropriately prosecute privatisation irregularities.
Mesic also called for establishing new models of "socially sensitive cases of privatisation" and suggested introducing, along with a new primary model of privatisation, the possibility of participation by employees in decision-making and ownership on the basis of application of the ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) on the model of the EU.