All parliamentary groups on Tuesday endorsed a bill of amendments to the law on the rights and duties of MPs, whereby their right to free transport would be revoked, but the opposition called on the government to put a budget revision in parliamentary procedure, saying that economic recovery measures had not resulted in sufficient economies.
A state secretary at the Administration Ministry, Pavao Maticic, said the government considered the regulation of MP rights in a way that reduced budget expenses imperative for the implementation of the Economic Recovery Programme.
The opposition said the amendments would not result in considerable budget economies, as most MPs did not exert the right to free transport, according to Slavko Linic of the Social Democrats.
He said that despite the government's measures, budget revenues had declined considerably and that parliament must discuss this situation.
According to Linic, the government has not said how much money it expects to save via the Economic Recovery Programme, which makes it impossible to assess the effects of the measures.
Miljenko Doric of the People's Party, too, said the measures had not increased budget revenues and that too much money continued to "leak."
"The only way out is to boost economic activity. These measures are just populism and throwing dust in people's eyes," he said.
Mile Horvat of the Independent Democratic Serb Party said this revocation of MP privileges once again failed to "strike at the heart of the problem."
Emil Tomljanovic of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union said the amendments would cut budget expenses and help implement the Economic Recovery Problem.
