Former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Tuesday visited the parliament where he submitted a request to be given a pension for serving as a member of Parliament, and stopped briefly to talk to Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic and thank him for mortgaging his property so that he could be released on bail.
Sanader was in custody until last Friday on corruption charges.
"I thanked him once again for his guarantees and friendship because he did a big thing for me and I am grateful for his friendship. He has shown that friendship is a category that is not affected by bad weather," Sanader told reporters.
Asked what he and Bebic had talked about, he said, "About everything we have not had the chance to talk about this past year."
He said that he came to Parliament to regulate his status of an independent MP which expires in two days, when the new parliament will be inaugurated.
Sanader said that he had only recently learned of legal regulations under which he, being 59, had met conditions for retirement and did not fall under the "six plus six" clause, which makes it possible for outgoing MPs to continue receiving their full salaries for six months after leaving parliament and 50 percent of their salaries for the following six months.
"Since legal regulations are such, I submitted a request for an MP pension... I did not know or take care about it until yesterday, but my attorneys obtained such information, including from some of you," Sanader told reporters.
