Zagreb - After a debate that lasted more than four hours, three parliamentary committees, by votes of the ruling majority, on Monday approved Alen Ružić as the new Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy.
Three opposition members each of the Committee on Labour and the Committee on Health and Social Policy, as well as five members of the Committee on Family, Youth and Sport, voted against, while seven ruling party MPs from each of the three committees voted in favour.
The session was marked by opposition criticism of the management of the ministry and accusations from the ruling parties of opposition hypocrisy. Given strained relations within the ruling coalition due to Josip Dabro of the Homeland Movement and the HSLS's threats to leave the coalition, even the hearing of the ministerial candidate was called into question.
Arsen Bauk of the SDP asked the prime minister if there were even enough votes to confirm the new minister. "We have them," PM Andrej Plenković replied briefly.
The same question was later posed by Marija Selak Raspudić (Independent) who asked Plenković to list the MPs forming the majority.
SDP: Ružić violated workers' rights; Plenković: I would recommend Ružić as a minister to any future prime minister
Citing a court ruling in an unlawful dismissal case, as well as complaints filed by the doctors' union against Ružić, SDP MPs pointed out that the head of the ministry responsible for protecting workers' rights is "a man who violated workers' rights at the hospital where he worked".
"How is it possible that a person who dismissed a single mother with cancer is your nominee for Minister of Family and Social Welfare?" asked SDP MP Tanja Sokolić, while her party colleague Irena Dragičević stated that considering that Josip Dabro was a minister and Deputy Prime Minister, it is clear that anyone can be appointed to Plenković's government.
"As for (Ružić's) credentials, they are excellent; I would recommend him as a minister to any future prime minister," said Plenković.
Regarding opposition remarks about Ružić's lack of familiarity with the ministry he is taking over, Plenković said that ministers are not experts in the sense that they would work as civil servants, but politicians who take responsibility for managing the ministry.
Ivana Kekin of We Can! criticised the government over the "debacle" regarding the Inclusive Allowance Act, stating that 15,000 people died waiting for a decision. Referring to a non-final ruling of the Administrative Court, Kekin asked the PM if he felt the need to apologise to their families.
Plenković emphasised that regarding decisions on the inclusive allowance, things are now accelerating.
We Can!: Will decisions be issued within the legal deadline?
We Can! MPs, along with Anka Mrak Taritaš (GLAS), insisted on an answer about whether decisions would start being issued within one month, as prescribed by law.
"We would all be happier if decisions had been issued faster, but the assessment of those handling this issue evidently did not foresee that we would have double the number of applications. I must admit that when the law was prepared, I did not expect 300,000 applications, perhaps it was my fault, but we will do everything to speed up the process now," Plenković said.
He emphasised that the government will respect the Administrative Court's decision and that it has already been agreed with the future minister that the appeal filed will be withdrawn.
HDZ MPs responded to the opposition by saying it is "hypocritical to listen to claims about thousands of deaths from those who, when in power, systematically ignored persons with disabilities." In response, Jelena Miloš (We Can!) noted that Zagreb has doubled the budget for people with disabilities and reminded Plenković of his pre-election promise regarding child allowances for 500,000 children, which, she added, was not only unfulfilled but also reduced in scope.
"This year we allocated €860 million for demographic policy, but the number of children receiving child allowance decreased because salaries increased. We need to provide for those who need it most; we cannot give everything to everyone, that is not fair," Plenković stated.
In response to several follow-up questions, the prime minister announced new tenders for the construction of homes for the elderly and discussions on raising the hourly wage for personal assistants, which, Dubravka Novak (We Can!) warned, currently amounts to only €11 gross.
Independent MP Marija Selak Raspudić said she was outraged by Plenković's statement that the inclusive allowance is not a "medicine", saying he was arrogant and insolent.
"I don't know what you think it is used for, pocket money for ice cream or saving for Hawaii, but from the perspective of 25,000 children born with neurodevelopmental risks who have no early intervention system, it is a medicine -- money that compensates for the cost of treatment the state does not provide," she said.
The PM emphasised that the government would not have passed the relevant law, increased benefits, or demonstrated so much social sensitivity in all crises if it did not want to help the most vulnerable.
In response to a question from Marin Živković (We Can!) about the Croatian Employment Service's (HZZ) cancellation of one-time grants for starting a business, the prime minister said he was also puzzled when he saw the decision.
"I must admit we were not informed; I will ask the future minister to look into it, but we are still allocating around €140 million annually for active employment measures," he said.
Ružić on priorities
Answering MPs' questions, ministerial candidate Alen Ružić listed his priorities after taking office: improving the assessment system to categorise cases and reduce the number of repeated assessments; continuing active employment measures with emphasis on job quality; categorising salaries in the social welfare system; and further improving the material position of pensioners.
Ružić also emphasised the importance of full accessibility and quality of social system rights across Croatia. In response to Selak Raspudić, he confirmed that surrogacy is prohibited in Croatia and stated that he will continue to act according to the law.
Ružić dismissed accusations from the SDP and We Can! that he violated workers' rights as director of the KBC Rijeka hospital or favoured the private health service provider Medikol.
"There were no dismissals that cost KBC Rijeka €250,000. The hospital has 3,800 employees; in the six years I was director, there were six dismissals," Ružić responded to Irena Dragić (SDP) regarding unlawful dismissals.
He explained a specific case in which a single mother was dismissed for stealing drugs from the hospital for her son, who was serving a sentence.
In response to repeated questions from We Can! MPs about Medikol in KBC Rijeka's basement facilities, Ružić said he would provide a written response with all documents on signed contracts.
HDZ MPs praised the PM's choice of the new minister, criticising the opposition for hypocrisy because, they claimed, when in power, the opposition had no regard for socially vulnerable people.