DARUVAR, Oct 18 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Saturday he was satisfied with what the incumbent government had achieved, but added that it could have done a little more.
DARUVAR, Oct 18 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on
Saturday he was satisfied with what the incumbent government had
achieved, but added that it could have done a little more. #L#
Talking to reporters in Daruvar after the marking of 60 years of the
formation of the Jan Zizka Czech brigade, Mesic was asked to comment
on the government's performance. "Reviewing the state of affairs in
the first year of the term lasted a little too long," he said, adding
that "after that, state mechanisms weren't effective in dealing
with scandals".
"Many scandals and crime in privatisation should have ended up in
courts and we should have had the first final sentences for crime in
privatisation," Mesic said, adding that "unfortunately, that
didn't happen and in that respect, state mechanisms backfired".
He voiced confidence this issue would be dealt with in the coming
period, as would the harmonisation of Croatian society with
European Union nations, and that "we will join the EU sooner than we
thought".
Asked to comment on the voting right on ethnic minorities, Mesic
declined to comment on parliament's recent decision under which
national minorities are to have one and not two votes. He said,
however, that a mature democracy must protect vulnerable
communities.
"The Croatian Constitution guarantees the equal right to vote to
all citizens, but in democracies a country stipulates by law how
ethnic minorities' rights are protected," Mesic said.
(hina) ha sb