A Social Democratic Party (SDP) member of Parliament, Slavko Linic, said at a press conference in the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka on Saturday that next year's state budget would jeopardise the kuna exchange rate, increase illiquidity and unemployment, and aggravate the problem of non-payment of salaries and pension allowances and the problem of external debt repayment.
Linic said that Croatian National Bank Governor Zeljko Rohatinski had been doing a good job of maintaining monetary stability, but added that Rohatinski would not be able to control the stability next year.
Linic said that next week's parliamentary debate on the 2011 budget would show that there was no parliamentary democracy in Croatia, because deputies would be given the budget draft on Monday and would discuss it already on Tuesday.
"That shows that the Sabor has no influence or creative power, but has become just a voting machine for the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union). The debate will also show whether (former prime minister and now independent MP) Ivo Sanader will manage to win over some of the HDZ deputies," he said, adding that he believed Sanader would not succeed.
"Instead of that, the parliamentary discussion should show what the budget will bring for the future, how to create an economic policy that will change things and stop the downturn," Linic said.
His party colleague, Zeljko Jovanovic, said that budget projections showed that Croatia was on "a one-way journey with no return."
"Croatia has been turned into a society of total irresponsibility with the limitless possibilities of fraud for one's personal benefit and the benefit of one's party," Jovanovic said, citing a number of HDZ officials suspected of or charged with involvement in corruption scandals.
Jovanovic described the HDZ as "a politically damaging organisation that used state-owned companies as their personal and party cash machine," and once again called for early elections.
