Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Monday visited the Administration Ministry and met Minister Davorin Mlakar, saying afterwards that the government was considering the possibility of downsizing government departments, bureaus and agencies.
There are more than 90 such bodies employing an impressive number of people and every fifth employee is an executive, Kosor said, adding the ministry would propose for the next government session criteria for the reduction of those bodies, their merging or inclusion into the ministries.
"There is also the issue of salaries, which are different than elsewhere in state administration. Someone can't have a higher income for the same job only because they are 'separate' from the ministries," said Kosor.
She recalled that the Administration Ministry was conducting a thorough analysis of the entire system based on which a decision would be made on the possibility of reducing the number of local and regional self-government units. She said the decision would not be made without the full consensus of all political parties.
Mlakar said the Administration Ministry would draw up by March 2011 a registry of all state administration employees in order to downsize the sector.
Commenting on President Ivo Josipovic's statements on the case of the Sibenik-based light metal factory TLM, Kosor reiterated that institutions must do their job and that she supported Josipovic's positions.
"I can say the same thing every day -- let state institutions do their job. Police will interrogate who they have to interrogate, DORH (the State Prosecutor's Office) will interrogate who they have to interrogate and in this sense I support what was said by President Josipovic and SDP (Social Democrat) president Zoran Milanovic, with whom I often disagree, but in this we agree," said Kosor.
She added that "Milanovic has forgotten the Daimler case and the purchase of fire trucks," reiterating that the government would continue strengthening the framework for the struggle against corruption and for judicial independence.
"Independent state bodies are doing their job independently, DORH and (anti-corruption office) USKOK are working independently of any or anyone's pressure," said Kosor.
"In the end, that refers to court decisions. And in this case (TLM), nobody still knows what USKOK and DORH are investigating, yet a storm has already been raised in public," she added.
