Selak Raspudić calls on Milanović to convene an emergency session of Parliament

Marija Selak Raspudić, an MP from the Drito party, sharply criticized the government of Andrej Plenković on Tuesday in an interview with N1, following the discovery of hazardous waste dumping in Gospić. In a conversation with journalist Tihomir Ladišić, she stated that this is the moment when the opposition must be united, and called on President Zoran Milanović to take responsibility and convene an emergency session of Parliament.

Opposition united, despite absence from Most's meeting

Selak Raspudić explained why her party did not attend yesterday's opposition meeting organized by Most. "I wouldn't overstate the fact that Drito did not attend Most's meeting; this is not a rift in the opposition. It's quite simple: I didn't receive the invitation in time," she said.

She added that there is no difficulty in direct contact, and that if a meeting is called with only a few hours' notice, people should be contacted personally. "The opposition is made up of people. In a situation of such crisis, when there is political potential to seriously shake this government, which is a common desire for all of us, it's not unusual for an opposition stampede to occur, a competition over who will be first, who will be the main one, who will lead the initiative," said Selak Raspudić.

Despite this, she believes the opposition will find common ground. "I believe our fundamental common interest is that this government leaves, and we will find common ground. If we didn't meet yesterday, that's no reason not to meet tomorrow, the day after, and relaunch a joint initiative," she said.

"What is Milanović doing?"

The Drito MP believes that the key role lies with the President of the Republic, who so far has only offered words. "The most important thing is institutional action: what is Zoran Milanović doing? I don't have the mechanisms to convene an emergency session of Parliament, and that is the only serious control mechanism that can hold this government accountable," she stressed.

She added that Croatia does not need a president who merely expresses outrage. "We have a separation of powers because we have a president with legitimacy; we expect him to act. Why doesn't the president still convene an emergency session of Parliament, if the ruling majority doesn't want to? He is the only one in the country whom the Constitution empowers to do so," emphasized Selak Raspudić.

The beginning of the end for Plenković's government

Selak Raspudić is convinced that the hazardous waste affair is a turning point for the current government. "This is what we need now, for Andrej Plenković's government to pay for what it has done. I am certain that this is the beginning of the end, if not the very end, of Andrej Plenković's government," she said.

She stressed that the most important issue is finding solutions, but that not a day can pass without acknowledging the fact that people are already being poisoned in Gospić, Lika, and the wider area. She also commented on the role of Krunoslav Capak, head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), expressing doubt about the credibility of the results that will emerge.

"My expressed political opinion about Krunoslav Capak at the helm of the HZJZ dates back to the COVID crisis, when he was one of the key people in the headquarters that then took on the role of a political body and, instead of being guided by health recommendations, managed the health crisis to benefit the HDZ," she said.

She concluded that if citizens cannot trust the fundamental institutions of the state to act in the interest of citizens, rather than politics and the HDZ, then the government must change.

Permanent contamination and call for ecocide to be introduced into the penal code

Selak Raspudić warned that the soil and water in Lika are permanently contaminated, and that this is not damage that can be remedied, but an irreversible impact on the environment. "That is precisely why ecocide, as the most serious environmental crime, should be introduced into the penal code, to send a clear deterrent message to all those who might think of destroying Croatian soil and water," she said.

She also commented on the role of the State Attorney's Office (DORH) and Chief State Attorney Ivan Turudić. "The State Attorney's Office must act independently; it is precisely its connection with the state authorities that is the reason why the current chief state attorney did not receive our trust," she said. If it is true that Prime Minister Plenković intervened regarding the announcement of the DORH investigation, Selak Raspudić believes that is an additional reason for the government's fall and the dismissal of the chief state attorney. If not, it only shows that Plenković has completely lost his bearings.

On Wednesday, in a radio and television appearance, she further emphasized that the discovery of hazardous waste dumping in Gospić is not just one in a series of political crises, but a reason for the government's fall, calling on the entire opposition to unite and jointly demand an emergency session of Parliament. She noted that her party's absence from the meeting was an organizational oversight and that there are no ideological or political reasons for a rift among opposition parties.

From the upcoming session of the Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Protection, she expects concrete questions to be asked, and from the responsible minister, clearly defined deadlines for resolving the problem. "I expect that the Environmental Protection Committee will ask concrete questions and that the minister will have to state the deadlines within which this problem will be resolved," said Selak Raspudić, emphasizing that the parliamentary opposition does not have constitutional mechanisms to independently convene an emergency session.

"The HDZ has a stomach for everything"

She also commented on Ante Sanader's statement calling for people to drink Gospić water. "Hearing Ante Sanader yesterday calling on us to drink Gospić water shows only one thing: he might actually drink it because we know the HDZ has a stomach for everything. However, we are not all the same; many of us don't, and neither do the citizens of the Republic of Croatia," she said.

Selak Raspudić also raised the question of responsibility for the import of hazardous waste. "The question arises: which institutions, companies, or organizations handed over the waste to Croatian so-called entrepreneurs? Did that waste legally, semi-legally, or illegally end up in the hands of the Croatian entrepreneurial couple who ended up in Lika?" she asked.

She asserted that this is systematic, intertwined corruption. "The county does not have the power to issue waste management permits in this way; this is pure corruption. It's turning a blind eye for a certain benefit, which is very concrete and material," she said. She added that the amount of imported waste could not have passed through a single customs officer or a single county decision, but that this is a much deeper and broader system.

"Croatia has positioned itself as Europe's dumping ground"

The Drito MP believes that the only way out of this situation is political. "The most tragic thing of all is that Croatia has positioned itself within the EU as Europe's dumping ground for the worst possible type of waste. We must wake up; this is mind-boggling. People are permanently health-threatened. This is permanent contamination. We must wake up politically," she said.

She expects concrete moves from President Milanović. "I expect Milanović not to be a potted plant president, but to take responsibility, convene an emergency session of Parliament, and for this matter to finally start being resolved politically, so that those responsible are held accountable," concluded Selak Raspudić.